Italian recipes

Pasta with basic beef meatballs

You can serve this dish as is, with the pasta, but the meatballs are so tasty you may consider serving them as an appetizer with toothpicks.

Portions: 10 serves

Ingredients:

5 thick slices day old or toasted Italian bread
1/2 bulb garlic
1/4 bunch fresh parsley
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Fresh cracked black pepper
One package of pasta
One jar of tomato sauce

Preparation:

Soak the bread in water for 1 minute. Thoroughly squeeze out all the liquid. Peel and mince the garlic. Clean and chop the parsley. In large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. Form the mixture into balls about 2 to 3 inches in size. Bake or fry the meatballs: To bake, preheat oven to 375°F. Place the meatballs in a lightly greased baking pan, and cover. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, and brown for 5 to 10 minutes. To fry, heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil to medium temperature in a skillet. Fry for 30 minutes, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until cooked through. Transfer the meatballs to paper towels to drain. Serve the meatballs plain, with sauce, over pasta. Day old or two day old Italian bread is ideal to use for meatball and meat stuffing mixtures. If slightly stale bread is unavailable, you can simply toast some fresh bread, or use bread crumbs instead.

Irene Milito

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Published by

Irene Milito

4 years ago

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