Meatballs!

Today's recipe is for delicious yet healthy meatballs that you will swear your grandmother made.  Actually this recipe is derived from one of my grandmother's recipes that I just adjusted a bit.  It's simple and easy to make and does not require a lot of time.

What You Need:
Large pot
Frying Pan
Mini food processor/blender or chopper


Ingredients:
2lbs 93% lean ground beef
2 pieces of bread (I used weight watchers)
1-2tsp Olive Oil
2Tbsp grated Romano cheese
1 large egg
2 cloves garlic (minced, grated, or pressed)
1tsp Parsley
1Tbsp Oregano
1Tbsp Basil
1tsp Salt
1/2tsp Black Pepper
1tsp Garlic powder
1/2tsp Thyme
Tomato Sauce (homemade or canned)

• First you want to put your pot with tomato sauce on medium heat.  You need enough sauce to fully cover your meatballs while they cook (aprox 15).  I usually have my large pot, pictured above, filled 1/3 to 1/2 way up.

• Next, we want to make our own homemade healthier breadcrumbs.  In your chopper or blender add ripped up pieces of the bread, 1Tbsp of Romano cheese, Basil, Parsley, Salt, Pepper, Garlic powder, Thyme and any other spices you wish.  I also add two spice blends from Penzeys Spices (for my tastes)  called "Mural of Flavor" and "Herbs de Provence" they are basically just Italian spice blends.  Lightly pulse and blend the bread and spices together. 

What you end up with should look like this..

• Next, in a large bowl add your beef, Egg, 1Tbsp Romano cheese, bread crumbs and garlic. Now here is where we go old school, with freshly washed hands you want to mix all your ingredients together with you hands. Smush, mush, squeeze and mash it all together until it looks evenly mixed together.

• In a frying pan over medium heat and 1tsp of Olive Oil

• Grab a fist size worth of meat and using your hands form into a ball

 

• Using your other hand slightly press the meat down so that the top and bottom are more flat

• Add your meat balls to the hot frying pan

• You want to lightly brown them on both sides

•  Once browned remove the meatballs from the frying pan and place in the tomato sauce.

• Repeat this process until you have used up all the meat.  You should be able to make 15 meatballs.  If needed you can add another tsp of Olive Oil to the pan.
• Lightly stir the meatballs to ensure all are covered with sauce.  You want the sauce to be hot but not boiling. Cover and let simmer for at least a half hour.
• Then Enjoy!

You can enjoy these meatballs alone as a yummy snack or on top of your favorite pasta dish.  I love these meatballs on top of a bowl of whole wheat pasta and sprinkled with some Romano Cheese.

This recipe yields 15 servings and is 2 Weight Watchers Points Plus per serving