Italian Meatball Supper!

As the cartoon speech bubble says... WOOF!  Right, Tazzy???

Let's see what you'll need!

1.5 lbs ground chuck (80/20 - lean/fat ratio)

3 eggs

1/3 cup chopped basil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 yellow onion (about 1/2 cup chopped)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup (or just below) whole wheat bread crumbs

3/4 cup grated parmesan

*Your favorite pasta and sauce to go with the meatballs!

Put a few chunks of parm in a food processor and let it run until the cheese is a very fine grate.  

Chop the onion, basil, parsley & mince the garlic for prep.

Throw these ingredients and all the others for the meatballs and gently combine.  You don't want to over mix this!  Meatballs should be tender and not bad meatloaf balls.

Preheat oven to 350!

Form the meat into golfball sized circles - maybe a touch bigger than golfballs.

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  I would actually recommend putting the meatballs directly on a sheet pan - the foil wasn't a helpful idea!  Rub a bit of olive oil on the pan first to help from sticking.  

When they come out (as seen in the very first picture) you want to take the meatballs off the pan, but try to discard the white stuff that seems to gather around the base of each meatballs.  This is where a lot of the fat and melted off to the side.  You don't need to include that - and by discarding that fat... you make these completely, 100% fat free!  WOOOO!  .....um maybe.

I like to have a pot of sauce simmering on the stove (I suggest 2 jars of sauce) - that way you can place the meatballs into the sauce and let the flavors all marry together.  Simply serve over a plate of your favorite pasta!  

This will absolutely leave you with leftovers!  This is one of those dishes that is even better on day two!

Enjoy!   :)