What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Front-Runner Favs: Mountainous Meatball! It doesn’t have to be National Meatball Day to indulge in authentic cuisine found in Little Italy. By using everyday ingredients, mix and shape a giant meatball with your own two hands to feel like a gourmet chef. Smother the meatballs in a jar of marinara sauce, store-bought or made-from-scratch for perfection. And my secret, you ask? Tucked in the top of the meatball, like snow on a mountaintop, is a creamy mozzarella ball. Bet you can’t wait to bite into that!
MOUNTAINOUS MEATBALL
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Italian bread, soaked in milk and squeezed out
1 pound ground sirloin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup dry Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3 sprigs Italian parsley, chopped
3 Ciliegine mozzarella balls (cherry size)
2 cups marinara sauce
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
3/4 cup ricotta
Fresh basil for garnish
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400°. Sauté onions in olive oil over medium heat. Set aside. Tear Italian bread into chunks. Add enough milk to cover. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine ground sirloin, garlic powder, eggs, dry Italian breadcrumbs, sea salt, black pepper, Italian parsley, and the milk-soaked breadcrumbs (with the liquid squeezed out). Mix well. Form into three meatballs the size of a tennis ball. Make an indentation in the top of each meatball. Stuff with a Ciliegine mozzarella ball. Press meat around the cheese leaving only a small bit visible. Place meatballs on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake 30 minutes until brown and firm. Remove from oven and place each meatball in an individual oven-proof serving dish. Reduce oven temperature to 375°. Spoon marinara sauce over meatballs, dividing it equally between the serving dishes. Top with 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, between the three dishes. Bake 15 minutes longer. Remove from oven. Sprinkle on the remaining parmesan cheese. Add a dollop of ricotta cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with fresh basil. Serve with garlic toast.
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Sure beats a meatloaf, hand down.
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You can say that again! 😋🍃
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Can’t wait to try this! This morning I’ve been looking at getting out into the mountains again (the Mourne Mountains, not very high but beautiful nevertheless) and then your recipe arrives! 😋 Just what I need to sustain me! 😊😋🙏
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Wow! I never realized my recipes could inspire people to exercise. Boom! 💥
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That’s meatball is huge.
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Oh, yes. That’s kinda the point. 🤣
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Mamma Mia – that’s a big meatball 🙂
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Sometimes you just gotta… 😋🌿
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I’m sure it will taste good with the cool and rainy weather we hare here for the moment 🙂
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Add some crusty bread, and that’s a big YES! 🥖🍷
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The meatball to end all meatballs!
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Bigger is better, right?! 😜🍃
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Always!
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The mozzarella balls are genius! What a wonderful idea, a ball topped ball!
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Oh, Dorothy! You’re killing me. 🤣 Love you. 💕
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😉
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I like meatballs. This recipe sounds great.
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Thanks, Chris. I like the single serving. 😜🍃
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Ordered. Lol Thank you, Gail! xx
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I like the way you think. 🤔
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Thank you, Gail! :-)) xx
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Yum!!!!! My mouth is watering!!!!
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I’ll trade you a meatball for one of your cannolis. 😜🍃
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Hahaha let’s do it!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
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I just ate, but oh man! Looking at that has my juices flowing again!!
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Munchtime. 😍🍃
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