Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Make Ahead Meatballs

This is a make a great recipe for a meal now, and meals later. I have a senior high school football player that is a "fat hawk". He has found that if he limits fat, he has less digestive issues, and becomes lean and mean. So, he eats lots of pasta, lots of sub rolls, and, if I have a bag of these on hand, he gets protein, and gets full. Remember, I said a senior high school football player!

Meatballs Made Ahead

4 eggs (yes, I keep in the yolks...shhh...don't tell him!)
2 cups dried bread crumbs (at first, I purchased, but making them yourself...so easy, and cheap!)
1 T. salt
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 - 2 t. ground white pepper (my guys like heat!)
4 pounds lean ground meat (I made two batches, one with 93% lean ground beef, and one with 90% lean ground turkey)

In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Add salt, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper and mix well. Then, crumble the meat in the bowl and mix well, till liquid and meat are very distributed. Then add the bread crumbs. This make take some "hand work" but if you mix up the liquid into the meat, it is not too bad, or too messy. Use scoop and then shape into 1"-2" balls. Place on foil or parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake at 400f. for 10 - 15 minutes. Cool.

I take a meal's worth (I use 12) and put them in a zip type freezer bag and then store in the freezer. When you are hungry, it takes just a few minutes to warm them and put them in your favorite sauce. We have tried, of course, marinara (Ragu is a favorite) or my own, barbecue sauce. This time, I used the recipe for Hawaiian Meatballs, and it was awesome!

No comments: