Mmmm.... meatballs...

Ah, meatballs. Simple, satisfying, so comforting. I recently discovered a new food blogger (and an amazing one, at that), E. Lee of Bacon Concentrate. She's funny, clever, a great photographer, and obviously, a great cook. One of her recent recipes that inspired me is her Lamb Meatball recipe. Indeed they are verrrry tasty!

As I type this, my kitchen/dining room/living room (ok basically the whole condo) smells like glorious meatballness. I am hungry. So very hungry. But I must make it to the gym before I devour them. Must... resist... meatballs...

So, these lovely morsels of meat started with some finely chopped onion and green bell pepper. I definitely did not chop these fine enough... I think they were a bit too big.


I combined the lamb, beef, onion, bell pepper, breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley, and S&P into a large bowl.


Then I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup as a guide to make the meatballs uniform in size. I ended up with 21 meatballs.


Hello, little meatballs!


I browned them in a large pan...


And as they finished browning, I transferred them to another pot that had about 2 cups of the tomato sauce, plus the chopped garlic.


As an aside... I did not use pasta sauce for this. Rather, I got two large cans of crushed tomatoes, and added a bit of S&P and sugar to each, to make my own tomato sauce!


Back to the meatballs... after they all browned, and were all transferred to the other pot, I added the rest of the tomato sauce, and gently stirred. To get the bits off the bottom of the pan that the meatballs browned in, I added a bit of tomato sauce and basically deglazed it, then added that to the other pot. I let the meatballs simmer on low-ish heat for maybe 30 minutes or so. Note to self: Use a bigger pot next time. I almost burned down the kitchen! You can see how the sauce is almost overflowing!


As I said before, your kitchen will smell so luxuriously good. Try not to do this right before going to the gym. It can be disastrous!!! These meatballs are juicy, and bursting with flavor. I cannot wait to eat them as leftovers!


Bacon Concentrate's Lovely Luscious Lamb Meatballs
from Bacon Concentrate

Ingredients:
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 lb ground lamb
1/2 lb ground beef
1/3 cup grated parmagiano reggiano
1/3 cup grated pecorino romano
S&P
1/3 cup breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)
1/8 tsp nutmeg (I grated mine fresh)
1 heaping cup minced fresh flat leaf parsley
6 cups your favorite pasta sauce (or like I did with crushed tomatoes)
3 large garlic cloves, crushed
olive oil

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except pasta sauce, garlic, oil).
2. Form into meatballs. As a guide, you can use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to ensure uniformity, or use a small ice cream scoop.
3. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat, and brown the meatballs on at least two sides (I always find it difficult to brown an entire spherical object).
4. Use caution when turning the meatballs; make sure they are not sticking! You want them to stay as cohesive as possible.
5. In a separate large pot/pan (make sure you have a lid), add 2 cups of the pasta/tomato sauce. Add the garlic.
6. Transfer the meatballs to the sauce as they brown, using a slotted spoon to drain the excess grease.
7. When all the meatballs are done browning, drain most of the grease (this is important! I neglected to do this, and nearly killed myself with grease splatter).
8. Add 1 cup of the pasta/tomato sauce to the pan to deglaze the bottom of the pan of its brown bits. Add this to the pan/pot with the meatballs.
9. Cover the meatballs with the remainder of the pasta/tomato sauce. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
10. Remove the lid, and simmer for 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken. And get ready for your kitchen to be covered in tomato sauce splatter.
11. Serve with pasta, or crusty bread, or polenta, or solo! ENJOY!