Everyone has their own preference on meatball style. These are soft, delicate and full of flavor.

My family is very split on this important issue, but I feel that a meatball should be soft, delicate, full of flavor and almost melt in your mouth. And since this is my recipe site, I’m posting my version. (And in case you’re wondering, my family seems to prefer the small, cocktail frozen variety that are usually better suited as shooters for playing marbles.)

Yield:

Total Time:

** minutes to prepare

** minutes to cook

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• ¹⁄₃ cup red wine
• ¹⁄₂ cup bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 egg
• ¹⁄₂ cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• ¹⁄₂ tablespoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon garlic
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon black pepper

Cooking Instructions

1. In a small pot, reduce ¹⁄₃ cup of red wine over medium heat by approximately half.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine ¹⁄₂ cup of bread crumbs with the reduced red wine
3. Mix together well, but not all of the bread crumbs will absorb the red wine
4. Add 1 egg to the mixture and beat slightly
5. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to the mixture and blend breadcrumb mixture, egg and tomato paste together
6. To the bread crumb mixture, add ¹⁄₂ cup of grated parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons of minced onion, ¹⁄₂ tablespoon of basil, 1 teaspoon of oregano, ¹⁄₂ teaspoon of salt, ¹⁄₂ teaspoon of granulated garlic, ¹⁄₂ teaspoon of black pepper and blend everything together well
7. Add 1 pound of ground beef to the bread crumb and spice mixture
8. Blend everything together well, but gently
   1. Do not overmix or compress together
9. Roll meatballs together without compressing them too tightly
10. Place meatballs in a baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
11. The meatballs are done once they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees
    

Notes:

For a different flavor and texture profile, the meatballs can be cooked with some spaghetti sauce in the pan. Only use enough spaghetti sauce to coat the meatballs and provide a shallow amount in the pan, approximately ¹⁄₂ inch. Meatballs can be submerged and cooked in a full pot of spaghetti sauce, but the oil and cheese that will come off the meatballs will affect the spaghetti sauce. Additionally, the cooking times for submerged meatballs will be different. Roasting the meatballs without sauce will provide a browning on the meat that may or may not be desired per your taste preference.

Revision: 5/15/2020