Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup dry bread crumbs*
- 1 1/2 tsp beef base
- 3/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 pepper
- 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 lb ground sausage**
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil – shiny side up. Place rack in baking sheet and lightly oil.
- Put egg and mayonnaise in chopper, blend until egg is beaten. Add beef base, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to egg mixture and blend again until beef base and seasonings are incorporated.
- In a large bowl, put dry bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese; mix well.
- Crumble beef and sausage over bread crumbs mix lightly. Create a well in the center of meat and pour egg mixture into it. Gently mix by hand until incorporated. Try not to over-mix.
- Shape into 18 (or so) 1-1/2-in. balls*** (medium scoop – 2 tablespoons each) and place at least 1/2 inch apart on rack on baking sheet. Bake, uncovered 15-20 minutes, turning after 8-10 minutes. If you are going to simmer in sauce, don’t worry if they are done through, you just want the outside good and brown so they don’t fall apart – they will finish cooking in the sauce. If serving straight from the oven they need to be cooked through.
Notes
*If you don’t have dry bread crumbs, you can use soft bread crumbs. To do it this way, after step 3, tear up 3 slices of soft white bread and place in chopper with fully mixed egg mixture. Pulse several times until bread is chopped, soaked, and mixed into the egg – will be slightly textured, not smooth. Mix Parmesan into meat, make well, and pour in egg/bread mixture. Follow directions as written from there.
**If you don’t have sausage, you can use 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger or reduce the rest of the recipe using only the 1 lb hamburger (will make 12 or so meatballs) or increase the recipe to 2 lbs hamburger (makes 24 meatballs). Just remember to adjust all other ingredients if you increase or reduce the recipe. If using 1 pound of meat, use 1 egg and omit the mayonnaise. If using 2 lbs meat, use 2 eggs and omit the mayonnaise. (The mayonnaise is a substitution for 1/2 an egg… 1/2 an egg is a pain to do)
***You can make whatever size meatballs you want, but keep an eye on the cooking times… smaller meatballs will cook faster and larger ones take longer. The medium scoop seems a good size for spaghetti sauce – but, I have made all sizes. The little ones work well in sauce, too… the small (1 tbsp) scoop will make double the number of meatballs and bake time is 8-10 minutes.