REAL Meatballs

I only recently started liking meatballs. It's very easy to be grossed out by the frozen, processed ones they sell at the grocery store. So, I looked high and low for a good meatball recipe. I wanted them to be garlicky, moist, and perfect for a meatball sandwich. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com which is one of my favorite recipe websites. I altered this recipe to make it my own, and I think these meatballs are the BEST ones on the planet (believe me, I am very picky when it comes to meatballs)! I cook them on my very, "seasoned" Pampered Chef stoneware pan. I love Pampered Chef stoneware and use it all the time for cooking and baking. For some reason, everything always turns out better on stoneware in my opinion. These meatballs cook up quickly and then you just add them to your favorite marinara sauce (please don't ruin them by putting them in Prego or Ragu!) You can either make a fresh marinara, which is easier than it sounds, or buy a really good jarred marinara sauce. I really like Barilla's Marinara sauce. Top your meatballs with provolone cheese for a meatball sammie, or with Parmesan over pasta. Either way, these meatballs are a HIT! 

Ingredients:

2 lb. ground beef
1tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder (or Tastefully Simple Onion Onion)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2-3 dashes hot sauce
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup fresh, grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. plain bread crumbs
1/2 c. Panko bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients with hands or wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Roll into balls.
3. Place on baking sheet (or stoneware) and bake for 25-30 minutes until centers are no longer pink.
4. Add to your favorite sauce and serve over pasta or on crusty, italian rolls.
5. Top with Provolone or Parmesan cheese.

Alissa's notes: If you have it (or can get your hands on some), I like to use Tastefully Simple's Onion Onion seasoning blend in place of onion powder. It makes a big difference since it has actual onion pieces in it. You may want to spray your baking sheet with cooking oil before putting the meatballs on. The stoneware has a natural nonstick surface so I didn't use any oil. I also popped the rolls under the broiler just for a few seconds to get the outsides nice and crusty. You can also put your provolone cheese inside of the rolls before you put them in the oven. I used a fresh marinara sauce without any seasonings added. The meatballs themselves have enough flavor to compensate for seasoning the sauce. This recipe makes 24 large meatballs.