Baked Italian Meat Balls

I’m wadding into the highly controversial world of Italian meatballs by stating up front that I think meatballs have the best taste and texture when made using a combination of ground pork mixed with ground beef. Beyond that basic building block everything that follows is mostly based on personal preference; although I will say I think using fennel seeds is essential. The nice thing about baking the meatballs is that you get uniform consistency and the outer crust is not overly crunching, which can occur in fried meatballs.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Mild Italian sausage – thawed
  • 1 lb Ground beef – thawed (don’t use lean beef, you want the fat)
  • 1 cup Italian style bread crumbs
  • 4 oz Whole Milk
  • 0.5 cup Parmesan cheese – finely grated
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 tsp Fennel seeds
  • 4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1.5 TBL Garlic – minced
  • 1 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 0.5 tsp ground black pepper
  • Optional ingredients
    • Fresh Basil cut into strips (chiffonade)
    • Frozen chopped Spinach (thawed)
    • Bell Pepper – diced
    • Roasted Greed Chile – from New Mexico of course

Process

  1. Mise en Place: measure and prepare you ingredients prior to starting.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 F (~205 C).
  3. Mix the dry ingredients together, including the Parmesan cheese.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk, and Worcestershire sauce.
  5. Using your hands (with food grade gloves), mix the pork, beef, garlic, and optional ingredients if using, until well integrated.
  6. Add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until well integrated.
  7. Repeat step 6 for liquid ingredients.
  8. Make the Meatballs
    1. Use an ice cream scoop (~1.5″ to 2″), or something similar to shape and portion control your meatballs. It’s important they are all the same size so they bake evenly.
    2. Remove mixture from scoop and roll around in the palm of your hands to compress and shape into a smooth sphere.
    3. Place meatball on lined baking sheet, arrange so that none are touching with ~1″ space between them.
  9. Bake meatballs ~25 mins until internal temperature in the center is 165 F (74 C).
  10. Place on a rack to drain and/or cool.

Note 1: The Italian bread crumbs will have all the other necessary meatball herbs you need, like basil, oregano, etc.

Note 2: Once you make the base recipe a few times, try adding come of the options. The fresh basil and spinach help the eggs bind the meatballs together and the green chile adds unexpected pzazz.

Note 3: These can easily be frozen for later use: After baking, allow the meatballs to completely cool. Place them in a vacuum sealed bag or a freezer bag that has all the air pressed out (good for 6 months). Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

Note 4: These make a great appetizer that you put on a stick (e.g., toothpick) and serve beside a dipping sauce.

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