Music City Meatballs

So, when things get rough, the tough get. . . cooking.

As I said last week, the way I handled my nervous energy during the storms that caused the Great Nashville Flood of 2010 was to cook. A lot. In large quantities. When there was one person at my house, plus a dog who can’t eat people food, and I couldn’t really safely leave my neighborhood.

But that crazed stress cooking resulted in some yummy things. Today, we’re talking meatballs, as in the kind you eat with spaghetti. On Saturday, I had made a quick spaghetti sauce using a large can of crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, cooking wine, three grated cloves of garlic, and salt and the usual spices. I had to use dried spices I had on hand, because going out on the patio to harvest my fresh basil wasn’t happening. Not in that downpour.

The next day, I decided to make some meatballs to add to the spaghetti, since I NEVER fix spaghetti with meatballs. I usually put my ground beef into the sauce and eat it that way. So, I had to have a little help making meatballs and turned to the Pioneer Woman. Because, really, who else would I turn to? The following recipe used her’s as inspiration.

Ready?

1. I needed bread crumbs and I’m not one of those people who ever has those boxed bread crumbs on hand. So I popped some bread into the oven and baked them at about 200-250 for awhile. I could have baked them a little longer, because they weren’t really toasty, but oh well. I then quartered a slice, stuffed it into my tiny food chopper, and made bread crumbs. I wanted about a 1/2 cup and one slice did it.

2. To the bread crumbs, I added one pound of ground beef, about three cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and dried spices to taste. Once again, going outside wasn’t an option. I think I used mostly basil and thyme, because I like basil and thyme. I worked this together with my hands.

3. Add one egg and work into the meat mixture. It will act as your binding agent.

4. Work the meat mixture into small meatballs. Remember that people have to eat these and spaghetti’s already a kind of messy meal, so keep them bite-sized. I used a tablespoon of meat mixture for each meatball. I actually had some meat left over and shaped it into a loaf and put it into the freezer to use again or to make meatloaf with sometime. Italian-y meatloaf, that is. Place your meatballs on a metal cookie sheet and stick into the freezer for a few minutes so that the meatballs hold together better when you cook them.

5. Cook the meatballs in a large skillet in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Turn, letting each side get browned. You’re not really trying to cook the meatballs through, because you’ll be letting them finish cooking in your sauce, but you do want to get them nicely browned on all sides. Do this is small batches and let the browned meatballs drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

6. Now, at this point, you can A) make your own sauce B) use a jarred sauce or C) get out the sauce you made the night before and make it better. I, obviously, chose option C. I thought it would be great to add in some chopped onion (1/2 of an onion), some mushrooms that needed to be used, and some fresh tomatoes. I sauteed the onions and mushrooms first and let them get all golden and soft, then added in the quartered tomatoes and let them get all warm and burst-y.

7. Add in your sauce and stir to combine the ingredients. Let simmer and flavors meld. When sauce bubbles, add your meatballs back in. Stir to coat with sauce, then lower the temp and let simmer in there for awhile. I think I let it go for about 25-30 minutes.

8. Serve atop cooked spaghetti noodles and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. ENJOY!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef 1/2 cup bread crumbs 3 cloves of minced garlic 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese salt and pepper and dried spices (basil and thyme) to taste 1 egg Spaghetti sauce (homemade or from a jar, fancied up or not)

Soundtrack: Endless pounding rain punctuated by weather reports