Homestead Meatballs

I was asked about the baked meatballs I made a post or two back. They aren't anything special really, just a simple baked meatball to add to the stash. They are relatively plain, a sort of meatball base if you will, so you can season and tweak as you please, yet they are yummy enough to soak up our favorite spaghetti sauce or delicious soup flavor.

3# meat of choice....all ground beef, ground turkey, ground sausage, or any combination.

1-2 medium onions, diced

Minced garlic or garlic powder (I use minced, about 1 TBS)

3 eggs

3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 1/2 cups Panko crumbs

3-6 TBS tomato paste (if you are tweaking spices, this could well be optional)

I don't use a mixer to blend these together. I did once, it produced a sort of 'baby food meat' texture I just didn't like baked. They did, however, fry up really nicely. I gave them a bit of fry time, then finished off baking in the oven. Not my favorite, but they were pretty good that way.

At any rate, I just dig on in with my hands and mash, and squish, and mix. 

If you can't have fun in the kitchen, what's the point, right?

So, take your bowl of mixed, squishy meat and start popping out meatballs. With this recipe, you will have about 60 smallish meatballs, or about 30 big boys. I used my ice cream scoop and ended up in the middle, with about 48 I think. Plop them onto a cookie sheet and bake at 375* for 30-40 minutes.

You can also put them into your muffin tins to bake. Grab one, cut it and check it for doneness. 

Disclaimer: I'm sure the baker purists can tell you what the proper internal meatball temperature needs to be, but I just cook until I like the looks of them inside, and they aren't burnt. No one has been poisoned off around the homestead yet, so I continue my practice. I'm not advocating you follow my lackadaisical method, just telling you what I choose to do myself.

So, you have a mess of meatballs now....whaddya do with them??  We toss the meatballs into our spaghetti sauce, we add them to veggie soup, use them in stew, make a meatball sub casserole (or regular meatball subs)... They freeze well, too. Not that I typically have many to freeze when the crew finds out I've made them...

I'd love to hear how you tweak up this meatball base and make it your own. And definitely share your favorite recipes...for the meatballs,  or for how you love to use them.