Easy New Meatballs for Spaghetti

Craving spaghetti and meatballs, and not a big cooking project, I came across this recipe from Smitten Kitchen for “everyday” meatballs and decided to give it a try. Makes about 24 small meatballs:

New Meatballs for Spaghetti

• 1 pound ground meat (beef, pork, veal or a mix)
• 2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs or 1/2 cup panko
• 1/3 cup milk or water
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a large baking sheet with foil, or parchment and coat it lightly with a nonstick spray.

Place meat, breadcrumbs, milk or water, parsley, cheese, salt, pepper, onion powder, eggs and half the minced garlic in a large bowl. Mix with a fork or your hands, until well combined. Form mixture into 1 ½” meatballs and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes until cooked through (you can cut one in half to check).

If you’re serving with tomato sauce, put the tomato sauce in a saucepan or Dutch oven and gently add the meatballs. Cover the pan and cook on medium-low heat for 12 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

My verdict:

Easy and tasty! These meatballs might not have been as tender as the ones I usually make, but they were close and much easier clean-up. Next time I might add some extra milk or water just to see if it makes a difference. The local butcher has a mix they sell of veal, pork and beef and that’s what I used for these. There was no onion powder so used some roasted garlic powder and as per usual forgot or didn’t have parsley.

I made a batch of Marcella’s tomato sauce and finished the meatballs in the sauce after baking them. Some spaghetti and I was a happy camper!