Baked Italian Style Meatballs

Many meatball recipes call for frying in oil, which I have found to be sub-par to this method of “oven frying” or baking the meatballs. You still come out with a bit of a sear on the meatballs, with a quarter of the oil and none of the greasiness. Don’t forget to finish the meatballs in your sauce. This step is essential for locking in the moisture and flavor of the sauce. Typically, I serve this with a large pasta, such pennoni or mezze lasagne, rigatoni will do just fine here as well.

Yeilds 8-10 medium sized meatballs.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I like 90/10 here)

Italian Seasoned breadcrumbs

grated pecorino romano

2 eggs lightly beaten

dried oregano

dried basil

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced

olive oil

salt & pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Sauté onions and peppers until just softened. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or two. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, eggs and onion/pepper/garlic mixture.

Add in a bit of Romano cheese and breadcrumbs. Eyeball the measurements here, as you want a consistency that is not too firm, but thick enough to form into meatballs.

Add a teaspoon of oregano and basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Combine.

Form the mixture into medium sized balls with your hands.

On a large baking sheet lined with foil or parchment, drizzle a bit of olive oil and place the meatballs evenly spaced apart. (See photo below)

Place the meatballs in the oven. Turn the meatballs every 5 minutes or so to ensure even browning. Meatballs should be ready at about 25 to 30 minutes depending on the size.

Remove from the oven and place into a pot of simmering tomato sauce. Summer for another 15 minutes.

Serve hot over a pasta of your choice. Enjoy!