Meatballs!

Who doesn't love balls of meat? A versatile dish with a versatile recipe! Meatballs are fun to make, especially if you've got kids or friends and some free time! You can make a few or you can make a whole bunch of them like I did and freeze some for a later date! You can also make meatloaf with this recipe too if that's your thing! Let's get started shall we?

What You Need:

1 lb (500g) ground beef
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 eggs
4 slices of bread, crumbled
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
2 beef stock cubes, crushed into powder!

Ya Ready?

If you're baking these, Preheat oven to 350 F/180 F

1. Put all those lovely ingredients in a bowl and combine them thoroughly with a spoon. I say with a spoon because if you overwork the meat with your hands too much, then the meat tends to get tough.

(Pst, if you want to make meatloaf either gently put the mix into a greased loaf tin OR just shape the mixture into a loaf on a greased baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes!)

2. With gloved hands, form 1 1/2 inch thick balls with the meat mixture and then you can so any of the following:

A. Fry em up in a shallow pan with a little olive oil until cooked through.

B. Bake them in the oven for 15 -20 minutes until cooked through.

C. If you've got a saucepan filled with a lovely simmering pasta sauce, you can carefully put them in the sauce and let them cook in there. Don't disturb them by mixing the sauce or you'll just break the meatballs apart end you'll end up with meat sauce.

I went with B. because as I had a bit of time, I wanted to cut down the fat content and I wanted to freeze some afterward.

Serve them up as a meatball sub, or if you're like me, have them with good old spaghetti!

Done done done! Meatballs with a spicy tomato sauce over whole wheat spaghetti for me.

Now eat the food!