Everyone has their favorite comfort food. Mine is definitely Italian food, specifically spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs I’ve made tonight can be used either with spaghetti for spaghetti and meatballs, in a roll with marinara sauce for a meatball sandwich, or made smaller as an appetizer for a party or watching the big game.

I used 96% lean ground beef for my meatballs. You can use whichever you prefer, but I enjoy the leanest beef the most. To my ground beef, I added kosher salt, Italian seasoning, pepper, red pepper flakes, diced onion, minced garlic, tomato paste, egg, grated parmesan, bread crumbs and milk.

 

I mixed everything together with my hands. Doing so would ensure I could get really get into the meat and make sure everything was blended together perfectly.

Once the meat was mixed together, I used a 2-inch ice cream scoop to form my meatballs. Using an ice cream or cookie scoop will guarantee that all your meatballs are the same size.

 

Lining the baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil will make for an easier clean-up.

I baked the meatballs in a preheated 400 degree oven for 35 minutes, when they reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

As I mentioned early on in this post, I wanted to serve my meatballs with spaghetti. While the meatballs were in the oven, I cooked the spaghetti noodles and also made my sauce.

For the sauce, I started with 2 28-ounce cans of tomato sauce. To that, I added tomato paste, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, kosher salt, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and jarred minced garlic. I brought the sauce to a slight boil before turning the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer while the meatballs cooked.

 

I added fresh basil and a little grated Pecorino Romano to this dish when I served it.

 

Dennis is taking leftover meatballs and making a meatball sandwich for lunch tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll enjoy it … he’s already talking about how much he’s looking forward to his meatball sandwich.

Ingredients for Meatballs

• 1-1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix meat with all ingredients in large bowl. Form into meatballs using a 2-inch ice cream scoop.
3. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Ingredients for Sauce

• 2 28-ounce cans tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (jarred)

Directions for Sauce

1. Empty tomato sauce into a large pot.
2. Add tomato paste, cheese, salt, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning and garlic. Cook until a slight boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

Thank you so very much for reading my blog post. I would love to hear what you think of my blog, today’s post and my recipes. I welcome all of your comments. Please feel free to follow me on Facebook (Sunshine and Savory), Instagram (sunshineandsavory), Pinterest (Sunshine and Savory) and Twitter (Kristin Braunreiter @sunshinensavory).