Friday: meatballs!

Oh my daughters both love them some meatballs. Spaghetti and meatballs, again? Sigh! So I know you want the skinny on this recipe dear Grace, so here it is. I am sure everyone else reading has their own recipe, but this one is solely for you my darling.

I use the ancient Cuisineart for mixing up meat stuffs as I can't stand it on my hands that much. I also like what it does for the consistency of the end product. So: in a mixing bowl or food processor:

1 pound of organic, grass fed beef ground - make sure there is some fat in it
1/2 cup of grated fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup finely chopped onion (you can do this first in the bowl if you are food processing it)
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp basil dried
1 tsp oregano dried
2 cloves minced garlic

Mix up this mess good and smooth. Then - pull out a cookie sheet or baking pan. Yup, I bake them. It must be against the rules but this is how I do it.

Form small balls of the mixture and put them on the pan. Coarsely chop another sweet onion (yes, indeed we eat a lot of onions in our house if you have been following along and paying attention) and sprinkle that between the meat. Drizzle a 1/3 cup of olive oil over the entire pan and grind some more pepper on top to dust them.

Bake for 45 minutes in a 350F oven. Let cool and then add to your sauce mix. I like them to cook slowly with the sauce for a good two hours or more. Can't hurt.

The onions are nice in the sauce too as they have baked and take on a nice flavor. Serve over some pasta of your choice or make them into a sandwich with a good baguette. I know you can get a good baguette in France! Bon Appetit!