Stuffed Meatballs

Stuffed Meatballs

December 15, 2017

Servings: 4

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 30 min

Total: 50 min

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Our classic meatballs - with a cheesy little twist!

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground meat (we like to buy a mix of 1/3 veal, 1/3 pork, 1/3 beef)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 lb mozzarella cut into small 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 16 oz jar tomato sauce (or make your own!)

Directions

• Step 1 Start heating tomato sauce over low heat in a large sauce pan or dutch oven. In a large dish mix the ground meat with all of the dry ingredients up through the breadcrumbs. Add the wet ingredients next and mix until fully incorporated.
• Step 2 Scoop out about a tablespoon of beef into one hand and flatten it out sightly. Then, with your thumb, make a little indent (see instructional photos below).
• Step 3 Place a mozzarella cube into the indent and push in lightly. Scoop up another tablespoon of beef and flatten to the same size. Bring the two halves of the meatball together and then roll into a ball.
• Step 4 Meatball size is personal preference, anywhere from about 1-2 inches in diameter (we like 2!)
• Step 5 Gently place the meatballs into the sauce, stirring carefully as you add. Let the sauce and meatballs simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes.
• Step 6 Serve over pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

A few weeks back, I posted my Mom’s family spaghetti and meatball recipe and now that the weather has turned, this cozy dish is going to be making a lot of recurring appearances at our table. But you know us, we’re ever-experimenting in the kitchen, so this weekend we decided to put a twist on our meatballs and… wait for it…stuff them with mozzarella cheese! What could be better than cutting into a soft, gooey, cheesy center of a meatball?! It’s like meatballs on steroids! We’ve made these in the past, and if I recall, we used ricotta – which is a great stuffer in its own right – but nothing melts quite like mozzarella.

I used the same tried and true meatball recipe from our spaghetti recipe, and just before rolling it into meatball formation, I added a little cube of mozzarella to the center.  Simple as that!  You cook them for the same amount of time and can even cook them in our favorite spaghetti sauce if you’d like, although this time we used store-bought. We have this great Italian grocery store in town and they have the best homemade sauces. When I don’t have all the ingredients (or more often, the time) to make our sauce, I just pick up a quart of their homemade sauce and whip up a quick bowl of pasta for dinner. Whatever sauce you go with, these meatballs are the star and something the whole family will enjoy. Whip up a batch for your Sunday supper this weekend – you won’t regret it!

Meatball “assembly” steps as follows: 

STEP 1: Choose your meat!  We love this 3-meat blend of veal, pork and beef.

STEP 2: Add your ingredients to a mixing dish and mix together.

STEP 3: Scoop out about a tablespoon of meat, roll out and then flatten into a small disc. Make an indent in the center with your thumb.

STEP 4: Push one cube of mozzarella gently into the indent. You don’t want it to burst through to the other side.

STEP 5: Take another tablespoon of meat in your other hand, roll and flatten like you did with the first half. Then “smoosh” the halves together and shape into a ball. Make sure the meatball is fully sealed off, you don’t want your mozzarella to burst through and explode your meatball!

STEP 6: Carefully place your meatball into the sauce and then simmer for 30 minutes over low heat until the meatballs are cooked through.  Watch out for exploding meatballs (this probably means you didn’t seal the meatball well enough in step 5) – we had a few!

STEP 7: Stuff your face!