Everyday, Multi-purpose Meatballs

Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cost: 12 dollars

So many great things come in ball-form.  Donut holes, cake pops, um...tennis balls.  Meat.  Whoever thought of rolling meat into balls was probably a genius.  Meatballs are pretty simple to make and you can use them for so many things.  There are obvious things like pasta, sandwiches and the like -- or you can pop them in the crock with a generous portion of sauce for some easy hors d'oeuvres for entertaining.  Mine are made from a combo of beef and pork which I think is the best combo for these puppies.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of ground pork
1/2 pound of ground beef
2 tbs chopped fresh basil (about six large leaves)
2 tbs grated onion
3 grated garlic cloves
1 egg
1 tbs flour
1/4 c breadcrumbs
salt/pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350.

Basically you just combine all these ingredients in a bowl and mush it all up with your hands.  Here you see the two meats.





2. Since meat tends to dry out in the oven, I like to grate my onion and garlic directly into the meat.  It helps keep everything moist.

3. Crack in an egg.

4. Tablespoon of flour.  The flour and egg help bind the meat together.  It also helps to create a nice crust on the outside when you brown them.

5. 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs go in -- I used seasoned because it's what I had.  If you like, you can grind up some day old bread and make your own but that screams "I have a lot of time on my hands".

6. For the basil, you'll need to chiffonade the basil.  Basically, just stack 3 leaves or so like this.

Rolls them into a little cigarette-like tube.

And then slice into irregular little ribbons of herby goodness.

7. Best part, mix it all up.  Don't you love the feeling of cold, raw flesh being squeezed between your fingers?  I do. Don't overprocess it when mixing or it'll start to get tuff.  Just enough so you can't distinguish and of the individual components. 

8. When it's sufficiently mixed, roll them into balls.  In general, a nice golfball size is what you're going for.  You could go for larger ones if you're going to serve 1-2 as a meal or smaller ones if you're making little toothpick appetizers but that will affect how long you cook them.

9. Raw meat on a plate.

10. Heat about 2 tbs. of oil in a skillet over medium/high heat.  When the oil starts smoking just a little, start to place the meatballs in the oils (they should sizzle and start to brown immediately).  Put the meatballs in a circular direction.  Once the pan is full, go back to the first one you put in and rotate it about 45 degrees.

11. Continue this pattern 3 or 4 times until all sides are browned.  You don't want them to be cooked all the way through, though.  They will continue to cook in the oven.  If you cook them all the way through in the pan, they'll be kind of tough and chewy and not moist.

This whole pan-process shouldn't take more than 7 minutes or so.

12. Remove the meatballs from the oil and place them on a foil-lined sheet.  Bake the meatballs for an additional 10-15 minutes until they are cooked through.

Add to your recipe of choice.  Or you could just eat them by themselves.  Pictured here with Swedish-style.