What is it about kids and meatballs? I swear my kids would eat virtually anything if it were presented in meatball form. In fact I do hide many nutritious things in there–chopped kale, or spinach or mushrooms. A friend of mine who is from El Salvador says that her mother puts chopped radish tops in meatballs. These are quick, easy and ready in under an hour. We had them the other night after a long day working on recipes for the world’s most delicious oatmeal (videos and recipes coming soon). I was tuckered after lots of cooking and cooking and talking and talking and needed a simple, fast dinner that no one would complain about, that would fill our bellies after a solid day of work but not be too challenging. These are a good fallback–a no brainer, but delicious and honest and real home cooking.
| Simple Meatballs |
- 1 pound ground beef (organic)
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup spinach, washed and chopped
- 3 TBLS chopped herbs (a mix of anything-I like parsley, marjoram and thyme)
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp olive oil (for cooking meatballs)
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- a sprinkle of herbs, for sprinkling
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Mix together eggs, breadcrumbs, milk and Worcestershire. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Saute the onion, garlic and spinach in the olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.
- Add the onion mixture to the egg mixture. Add the beef, herbs, salt and pepper.
- Mix well.
- Form into golf ball size meatballs.
- Fry until golden on both sides.
- Move the pan to the oven and cook for an additional 15 minutes at 425 degrees.
- Spoon the sauce over the meatballs and cook an additional 5 minutes.
- Let rest 5 minutes.
these meatballs tasted great — very juicy. Not so simple though. I must have screwed up something. The mixture was too wet and wouldn’t stay balled up, required major heroics and a few different pans. I love baking them at the end– that gets them cooked without burning the outside. The kids didn’t even notice the spinach!
I do like the mixture a little loosey-goosey, I think it makes a more tender meatball. Sorry it required heroics. I might amend the recipe to add another 1/2c breadcrumbs to make for easier balling.
Re-tested, worked out great. Not sure what happened with yours but it works. Let me know if you make again, xoxo