It’s almost Super Bowl time.
So if you’ll be in front of your TV with friends from the New York or New England area, think about serving something other than wings and pizza (yawn!).
Meatballs are a hot foodie trend right now. There are restaurants, cookbooks, websites—all in homage to the humble meatball. Here’s the appeal:
- You can serve it as finger/toothpick food or in a sub (forget over spaghetti on game day, too messy)
- Once cooked, they freeze well, so you can make them days or weeks in advance
- The variety is fun and you can make vegetarians and non-meat eaters happy
- Leftovers can be sliced on a salad, added to an omelet or put into a new sandwich
And, best of all, meatballs are easy! Here’s my “master” recipe, and some suggestions for variations. It’s almost impossible to fail or make a bad meatball if you keep the ratio correct and mix the dry and wet ingredients before adding the meat.
Master Meatball Recipe
- 1/4 cup starch (breadcrumbs, cracker crumbs, quick oats, bread with crust removed)
- 1/4 cup cooked and finely diced veggies (onion, celery, zucchini, leftover veggies, minced parsley or cheese)
- 1 egg
- 1-2 tablespoons liquid (chicken stock, milk, soy sauce, cream)
- 1-2 teaspoons seasonings (oregano, salt, pepper, minced garlic)
- 1 pound ground meat
Mix breadcrumb, veggies, egg, liquid ingredient and seasonings. Once all mixed, gently add the meat and roll into balls (no bigger than 1.5 inches across). Cook at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
For the Super Bowl, serve with sauce, cheese and caramelized onion in a sub roll.
Veggie Balls – Try these Black Bean Burgers but roll into balls instead of patties.
Other Great Combinations:
Middle Eastern – Lamb/za’atar seasoning/pita bread
Asian – Chicken/soy sauce and scallions/rice
Swedish – Pork and beef/all spice/cream sauce (Or call your mom for her recipe!)
Party – Beef/breadcrumbs/sauce – equal parts grape jelly and BBQ sauce
BBQ – Pork and prosciutto/stale cornbread/sauce – BBQ
Mediterranean – Lamb/mint and walnuts/sauce – pesto
