Homemade Meatballs
Yield
24 meatballs
Ready In:
40 minutes
About this Recipe
By: Sarah Cegelski
Homemade meatballs make spaghetti and meatballs feel special and they aren’t very hard to make! This is also a great recipe for making a ton to freeze for later, to share with a neighbor, or to turn into another dish like meatball subs or meatball pizza.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 1/4 c Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 3/4 c warm water
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
- 1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 large or extra large egg, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the ground meats, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with clean hands. Don’t make a paste; chunks of ground meat should still be visible. Using a cookie scoop that holds 1 1/2 tbsp, gently form the mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. You will have about 24 meatballs.
Spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray and place one meatball in each muffin cup. If you don’t have a mini muffin pan, place a cooling rack on top of a jelly roll pan, spray with non-stick cooking spray, and place the meatballs 1/2″ apart on the cooling rack. And, if you don’t have either one of those, line a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the meatballs 1/2″ apart to bake.
Bake the meatballs for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
Cook the spaghetti or noodle of your choice (I really like fettuccine or bucatini better than spaghetti) until al dente. For the love of God, don’t kill your pasta noodles. While the pasta cooks, warm your favorite spaghetti sauce (I love Barilla Traditional Tomato and Basil or Marinara, not an ad, I don’t even know how that works.)
When you serve each bowl of pasta, sauce, and meatballs, top with freshly grated parmesan, and if you feel fancy, garnish with a fresh basil chiffonade. For maximum carb enjoyment, serve the pasta and meatballs with crusty Italian bread drizzled with good olive oil.
