About a month ago, our niece Camelia texted me to see if I was available to teach her how to make meatballs.  One of her best friends was getting married and she didn’t want to come empty handed to the bridal shower, so she offered to bring meatballs as appetizers.  Needless to say, she didn’t know how to make homemade meatballs, hence that text message I was telling you about. So on a Friday afternoon, the day before the event, she came over to our home and we made my grandma Ita’s Sweet and Sour Meatballs which I will post soon.  Here I am just posting the classic meatball recipe for you to use as a base to make with your favorite sauce and size, although they are pretty darn good cooked by themselves!

Enjoy!

Classic Meatballs

Ingredients

2 slices of sandwich bread (no crusts), or some bread crumbs

1/4 cup of milk

2 pounds of organic ground beef

2 garlic cloves, mashed into a paste

1/4 cup of very finely chopped onions

1 tbsp green pepper, very finely chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

2 tsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tsp dried thyme

some Adobo for sprinkling

olive oil for cooking

Procedure

1. Place bread slices in a deep dish or small bowl and let soak with the milk for a few minutes until bread has absorbed all liquid.  Pull apart with fingers into tiny pieces.

2.  In a large bowl, mix rest of ingredients (except adobo) and the soaked bread pieces with a large spoon or by hand until well combined.

3.  Shape meatballs by hand, a bit smaller than a golf ball. (They will reduce in size while they cook.) Set aside and sprinkle with some Adobo.

4.  Cook in a skillet with some olive oil.  Do not turn until browned or they will break apart.

5.  Use in your favorite recipe that includes meatballs, like with marinara sauce and spaghetti, swedish meatballs, sweet and sour meatballs, etc.