Mamma Mia Meatballs!

By Michelle Karam on May 12, 2012

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Every mom has her own version of this staple recipe in her repertoire. In our house, I know the kids go nuts when they find out it’s spaghetti and meatballs for dinner! Hopefully your kids will too - especially with this recipe!

Mamma Mia Meat Balls

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 tablespoons chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons minced Italian flat leaf parsley
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, except olive oil by hand. Cover with plastic wrap and place mixture in the fridge for 5 minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees.

Remove mixture from the fridge and start rolling small meatballs. I usually get a tablespoon measure out and use it as a scoop to ensure that all of the meatballs are the same size. There obviously will be asymmetrical and they won’t all look perfect, but that’s the point... they’re made by hand by MOM!

Roll meatballs till all the meat is done. Make sure you firmly roll them, packing them - but don’t make it into a hard ball, it should feel light to the touch.

Set each one on a sheet tray and don’t allow the meatballs to touch one another. Keep in a single layer.

Drizzle the olive oil onto all of the meatballs and place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. (You can certainly pan fry each one of these over high heat in olive oil, this is just the way I do it quickly) Half way through the cooking process, remove the tray from the oven and flip over the meatballs so that each side gets brown and golden.

Add these to your favorite tomato sauce and serve over pasta! Or check out my recipe on for homemade tomato sauce on ModernMom's you tube channel in their series... Let's Cook!

Mamma Mia Meatballs! YUM!

**Optional Ingredients**

• You can do half and half when it comes to the meat... Ground Beef, Ground Pork, Ground Veal... all are great combos and add great flavor!
• Try adding some shredded parmegiano regiano cheese
• Crushed fennel seeds add incredible flavor
• Stuff them with a spoon full of ricotta cheese that you add chopped basil and garlic to

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