Quick and Easy Beef Meatballs

Sunday morning I grab the paper and immediately go straight for the coupons. While weeding through them nothing catches my eye like the buy, one get one free meatball coupon. Lets face it meatballs are so versatile they go in everything from pasta, soups, sandwiches, appetizers, you can grill them, and they are great in crockpot meals. So who would not want to have a bag or two in the freezer just waiting for the culinary mood to strike you. 

However, my husband can sniff out a packaged meatball a mile away...and oh the complaining...and he is totally right! The meatball itself lacks flavor and is typically mushy, and meat mush is just not attractive on the plate. So starts the internal conflict between flavor and convince. So what did we do? Well we came up with a recipe that is quick, easy, flavorful, and effectively squashing any remaining reasons to buy meatballs.

I know what you are thinking. That is all well and good but who has that kind of time? Well you do! So put on a pot of coffee this is just going to take a half hour, yep that is total time.

Still not convinced? Consider one more argument. The biggest driving force behind any decision I make...cost. We could go into the math, but like I said it is Sunday morning and who wants to do math right now? I just want my coffee! So I will say this (in our area) I can make two pounds of meatballs for cheaper than the buy one get one free coupon.

Now that is settled let's get going.
(Seriously though, someone started the coffee right?) 

Meatballs

1 lb lean ground beef 

2 eggs 

1/2 cup bread crumbs 

1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper 

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped 

2 cloves garlic, minced 

 Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil, and give it a quick spray with a non-stick spray.

Put all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together, make sure you do not over mix, once things come together you are done.

*Side note on the onions. You want to make sure that you finally chop them, if they are too big your meatball will fall apart. However I do prefer the flavor of an onion to a onion powder, so it is worth the extra time. Plus the onion pieces scream "homemade" Which is sure to impress anyone you are making dinner for!

I like to mix by hand, yes it is messy but you have to rolls them into balls anyway so go ahead and get in there!  

Form your mixture into balls. Take creative liberty on this part! Make them as big or little as you need them, this will depend on what you are making them for. The typical meatball is going to be about 1 rounded tablespoon. 

Bake them for 20 minuets. Making 18 large meatballs or 36 small meatballs 



This is your everyday meatball and is perfect for any recipe that you are needing meatballs for. This is also a basic meatball and any kind of substitutions can be made to meet your needs and personal taste.

Remember to make extra and freeze them. After all that is what started this!

Xoxo
Jes 

Caesar Bread

So Andi just made a beautiful bruschetta. Let's not even get into the fact that she GREW most the ingredients herself. 

So I get to make the bread. It has come to this, I am the family member who cannot be trusted to bring anything more than the bread. Well if you are the bread person in your family, I have good news for you! Cesar bread, great every time. Don't forget about this one on pasta night. 

Cesar Bread

One loaf French bread sliced 

Cesar dressing 

Olive oil 

Parmesan cheese 

Set the oven to broil

I know you are thinking. Jes, that is not very specific... No it is not but hey I trust that you cannot mess this up. We believe in you!

Place the bread on a pan, brush the top side with olive oil 

Now is the tricky part. Broil it. Now do not freak out just keep the oven cracked open so you can see the bread and keep an eye on it. From personal experience the worst thing you can do at this point is walk away...or think you have enough time to wash just a few dishes.

Once that side is golden brown, flip them over. 

Brush them with Cesar dressing

Sprinkle them with Parmesan cheese 

Back under the broiler. Now I know the dog is begging you to be let outside but seriously....no leaving the oven! This is only going to take a minuet.

Once they are golden brown take them out, and impress them all!
p.s. you can do the dishes and let the dog out now!

Xoxo
Jes

Walnut Pesto Meatball Sandwich

Walnut Pesto Meatball Sandwich

I am not a big t.v. watcher. If I am watching t.v., you can probably bet it is a cooking show. One day while watching the food network's diners, drive-ins and dives Guy ferettie was in Canada at Hey Meatball. They were making sandwiches called the the godfather. So I start thinking to myself this looks really good but Canada is really far away.

So, instead of grabbing my passport, I headed to the freezer for some homemade meatballs.  For the tutorial on making the meatballs {here} 

I never make pesto. Cost is a big driving factor for me, and pine nuts are expensive. When Hey Meatball used walnuts, I thought they really had something there. Why I wanted to make this sandwich in the first place is beyond me, why my sister went along with it is also confusing. No one in either family loves pesto, we were singing a new tune after this recipe! 

This recipe is based off the recipe you can find in the Joy of Cooking cookbook.

Walnut Pesto

2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
- we raided Andi's garden for this
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves 

1/3 cup walnuts 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

Put all the ingredients in the blender. Blend till there are no big chunks of walnuts.

For the Sandwich. Meatballs, a jar pasta sauce, (Prego Mushroom is our preferred jarred sauce) provolone cheese, and ciabatta rolls. 

Take your cooked meatballs and pasta sauce and heat that through in a pan on the stove. Easy right!

Brush olive oil on the ciabatta rolls (Spring for the ciabatta rolls, the holes in the bread hold the sauce perfectly with out getting soggy. of course this meant we had to go to two different grocery stores but it is worth it). Place the rolls under the broiler until they are golden brown. By know I am sure you are aware of how I feel about the broiler. It is a love hate thing. So stand there and watch it. This is not the microwave beep, you do not want to try and get something else done while the bread cooks. When I walk away from the broiler my house starts to smell like burning!

Once it is done, take the toasted bread and put on a layer of pesto:

Next, put on your meatballs and sauce. 

The original sandwich does not call for cheese, but what is a sandwich without cheese? Top with a slice of provolone cheese. 

Serve, maybe with Sweet Potato Fries

Enjoy this one we all did! 

 Xoxo
Jes