Homemade Meatballs: A Busy Home Cook's Best Friend

 
Meatballs are one of my favorite things to cook. Why? Because I can get at least two meals out of one batch of homemade meatballs. 

This recipe makes approximately 30 medium-sized meatballs (bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a baseball). Typically, we’ll have meatball subs the first night and then pasta and meatballs the next. Nothing like a homemade meatball sub pulled from the oven topped with marinara sauce and
melted mozzarella cheese on a toasted sub rolls. Round it out with a fresh, crispy salad. Hungry yet?

Having the leftover meatballs and sauce really comes in handy during a hectic weeknight. So for the second night, simply boil a pot of water and add your favorite pasta for a quick and speedy Italian meal. Depending on the day I’ll use it, I’ll either freeze the sauce and meatballs or keep them in the fridge if I plan to use them within a day or two.

You could also very easily double this batch and store half of them in the freezer (no sauce) and pull them out a few weeks or months down the road for another easy meal. 

Lisa's Homemade Meatballs

1 lb. ground pork

1 lb. ground beef

6 slices white bread

1 cup milk or buttermilk

1 large yellow onion finely chopped

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, soak the
bread slices in milk or buttermilk. 

Meanwhile, finely chop a large yellow onion. In a large bowl, combine meat, onions, cheese, eggs and spices and all ingredients except white bread and milk mixture. Combine. Squeeze excess milk from the bread and add it to the meat mixture being sure to mix long enough to distribute the bread evenly, but try not to over-mix. Using your hands roll meatballs and place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet (or use cooking spray to coat). You can also use anice cream scoop the meat mixture to make uniform sized meatballs.

Bake meatballs for 40 minutes. If you’re putting the meatballs in a sauce,
let them simmer for several hours in the sauce. If you’re going to freeze the meatballs without sauce, let them cool about 15 minutes and then place in freezer bags and freeze.