Versatile Italian Meatballs

Inspiration for this dish came from the South Your Mouth website, but with some modifications, as any reader of the Kitchen Tapestry should come to expect.  My Number One Fan gets all the credit for finding, modifying and preparing this really great version of the classic Italian meatball.

I labeled this "Versatile" for a reason.  There are several things you can do with this dish, and I will confess I haven't done them all - yet.The original recipe itself called for serving with pasta or with vegetables, such as fried zucchini or -ugh- roasted brussels sprouts.  What a horrible thing to to to these delicious gems!  I'll give the original recipe author credit for creating a good, basic meatball recipe, but poor marks for serving suggestions.

For my money, if you're going to make a meatball, do what meatballs do best:  sit on top of a plate of spaghetti; bake up in a casserole of ziti and cheese; nestle inside a short loaf of crispy Italian bread.  If you feel the need for zucchini and/or brussels sprouts, serve them on the side.  But that's just my opinion.

Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef (80/20 ground chuck is best)
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (like, the Kraft green can)
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs (like, Progresso)
1 tbsp Italian seasonings (or equal parts oregano, parsley, basil, thyme and marjoram)
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)

The Recipes
First, make the meatballs:
Put all ingredients except the meat and bread crumbs into a large bowl and mix well. Crumble in the meat and then, using your hands, blend all together.  Try not to overwork the meat.  When everything is incorporated, add enough or all of the bread crumbs to bind everything together.

Once blended, lay the meat mixture onto a cookie sheet at an even height, more or less one-inch thick.  Then, using a knife or pastry cutter, score the "meat sheet" into 24-28 even squares.  This will give you a consistent-sized meatball, about the size of a golf ball.  With wet hands to keep the meat from sticking to them, roll out the meatballs and set onto a baking sheet sprayed with the non-stick spray.  Line the pan with foil if you're wanting an easier clean-up.

Bake in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for 18 -20 minutes until browned. 

Now, here's what you can do with them:
Unless you have your own, get a jar of store-bought Italian spaghetti sauce.  A few years back that would have been considered culinary blasphemy.  But these days, there are some truly exceptional jarred sauces, including Classico, Dellalo, Rao's and Lucini.  The latter has no added sugar. Add a handful of Italian cheeses, like Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano, Provolone and Romano, or all five.  The benefit here is that you can bake as many or as few of your meatballs as you want.  Pour some of the sauce over the meatballs in a baking dish and cover with the cheese.  Bake uncovered for fifteen minutes in a 375-degree oven, until the cheese is bubbly.

You can serve this over pasta, like linguini, spaghetti, or fettuccine. 

Or, take a 6-inch loaf of Italian bread from a good bakery.  Cut the bread length-ways down the middle.  Scoop out a 1/2-inch deep pocket down the center of the inside of each slice.  Slather with some olive oil and then put the slices of bread under your oven broiler for a few seconds until the bread starts to toast.  Fill the pocket of one of the slices with the meatball, sauce and cheese mixture.  If you want, lay a slice of provolone on top of the meatballs and melt under the broiler before capping the sandwich with the other slice.

Or, have some Baked Ziti.  Cook a couple of cups of ziti according to the package directions and drain well.  Mix the ziti in with the sauce, cheese and meatball mixture as described above, but extend the baking time to 30-40 minutes until the pasta is heated through and the cheese is browned and bubbly.