Meatballs, tomato sauce and cheese. Put them together and you have a lovely dish that adults and young ones will love.To make this dish really, really good, you have to have great meatballs (good quality meat, the correct seasonings and binders are all essential), a very tasty tomato sauce (I made my own) and a rich cheese that melts well.
Connie’s Notes
Inspired by the Italian veal Parmigiana, baked meatballs take the place of fried veal cutlets in this recipe.
If you’re wondering where the Parmesan is, the grated cheese is mixed into the meatballs.
The meatballs are a combination of ground pork and beef. Salt, pepper, garlic, onion, basil and parsley are added for flavor and aroma. And, to bind everything together, I chose bread crumbs, a tablespoon of milk and grated Parmesan. We’re partial to panko here at home but regular bread crumbs will work too.
Another way of making this dish is to use sausage meat. Get your favorite sausage, slit and discard the casings, then just form into balls. No need add seasoning because sausage meat is already well seasoned. Adding chopped herbs is optional. But what herbs to use depends on the flavor of the sausage meat.
Because frying requires the meatballs to be turned around in the hot oil, a process that puts them in danger of breaking and falling apart, I opted to bake the meatballs in the oven. That’s really the only reason why they were baked. It has nothing to do with any attempt at low-fat cooking.
Ingredients
- 150 grams ground pork - (5.2 oz.)
- 150 grams ground beef - (5.2 oz.)
- 4 tablespoons finely chopped onion
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 4 tablespoons panko - or regular bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan
- 8 to 10 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 8 slices cheese - (I used mild cheddar)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Line a baking tray with non-stick paper.
- In a bowl, mix together the ground pork and beef, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, parsley, panko, milk and grated Parmesan.
- Shape into 8 to 10 balls about two inches in diameter.
- Arrange on the prepared baking tray and cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Take the meatballs out of the oven and arrange on a heatproof plate that you will serve them in.
- Spoon a heaping tablespoonful of tomato sauce over each meatball. Top with a slice of cheese.
- Put back in the oven and cook for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.
- Sprinkle your meatballs with more chopped parsley or basil, or both, before serving.
