Mom's Meatballs

These are AH-MAZ-ING. Easy and quick to make, they freeze well and reheat just like the day you made them.  I made these today in anticipation for tomorrow.  Always trying to get ahead.  I cannot think of a better way to use a pound of ground beef.

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup packaged bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 black pepper

Step 1: Mix it up!

Preheat your oven to 350F.

There is nothing better than a recipe that says 'just put it all in a bowl and mix it together'.  Well, that's exactly what you do here.  Take all the ingredients and mix well.  I usually start with the egg just to make sure its ok, and then throw everything else in.

Dry goods all together (egg is underneath)

All mixed together.

Step 2: Mold your meat

Meatballs are usually round.  They don't just appear that way, you have to make them that way (I know - duh).  So take the meat and make about golf ball size balls.  Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet.  A pound for me made around 16 meatballs.  Just keep in mind, if you make them small, less cook time; larger, more cook time.

Ready for the oven.

Step 3: Bake

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.  I actually pulled mine out this time, looked at them and they were still slightly pink, so threw them back in for about 3 more minutes.  The house smelled amazing with all that garlic (Brandon walked in and tried to eat on - I had to cut him off before he even went there since they're for tomorrow!).

Fresh out of the oven.

Step 4: Simmer in sauce

To finish out this recipe, take your meatballs and place in your favorite Italian sauce for another 15 minutes.  These will soak up some of that goodness and finish cooking them completely.  Then they're ready to eat!

Note:

Since I was making these a day early, I just took them out of the oven, let them cool to room temp, then placed them in an air tight container until tomorrow.  When I'm ready for dinner, I'll just pop them in the sauce and, even though they're cold, they'll heat up nicely in there and be ready to eat in around 15 minutes!

Also, leftovers.  We are not the biggest fan of leftovers, but with meatballs its completely different.  So, if you do have leftovers, try to eat them with in a few days, or just freeze them.  Out of the freezer you can thaw them out or just put them right in the sauce and let them slowly thaw out on their own!

Credit for this recipe needs to go to my mom.  She gave this to me in a cookbook when I moved out of the house at 18 for college.  Been using it ever since.  Its a staple in our weekly menu.  Happy eating!