Lovie & Co. Meatballs
Total Time
Prep: 35 min. Cook: 60 min.
Makes
8 servings
Ingredients
2 Lbs of 80/20 ground beef
1 Lb fresh ground pork or Italian Sausage (sweet or hot)
2-3 C Fresh chopped parsley
1 Finely minced yellow or white onion
2-3 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 C Italian style bread crumbs
2 Eggs
1-2 C freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
2-3 pinches Kosher salt
2-3 pinches freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 350'f
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef and the pork (or sausage) until it is evenly mixed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand until the meat reaches room temperature. Make a well in the center of the ground meat, about 3 inches deep. To the well, add the parsley, bread crumbs, onion, eggs, garlic, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. Mix the ingredients with your hands until all of the components are evenly distributed throughout the meat.
Meanwhile, place a large, oven safe skillet over medium-low heat and add just enough extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom of the skillet.
With your hands, take about a half of a handful of meat and roll it into a ball. Throw the meat from one hand to another firmly like a baseball into a glove. This packs the meat and helps to keep it from falling apart while cooking. Roll the meat back into a ball and place in the skillet.
Brown the meatballs on all sides and continue turning them until they are browned all around. Transfer the skillet with the meatballs into a 350'f oven for 20-30 minutes or until thoroughly done. When thoroughly cooked, remove the skillet from the oven and transfer the meatballs to a rack to let cool.
**If you are making homemade sauce, cook the meatballs until they are about half done. Skip the oven step. Remove the meatballs from the skillet and place them directly into the sauce to finish cooking. Remove from the sauce as soon as they are done.
