I can’t believe that I’m just now sharing these meatballs with you! I mean, meatballs are pretty fantastic as it is, but when you stuff them with fresh mozzarella it elevates them to a whole other level of awesomeness. Seriously! And for J, topping them with homemade marinara sauce is all the better. He loves him some marinara sauce. Oh, oh, oh! And the pasta! Remember when I told you about the pastas that my mom gave me awhile back?? Well, I used the last of the garlic-basil, and spinach linguine for this dish and I think it went perfectly!
I don’t make Italian food (i.e. pasta) very often, but this dish was chock full of Italian flavors in both the meatballs and the pasta. I wish I had some of these right now. At 6 am. That’s how good they are. Trust me peeps!!
- 1 egg
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 3 oz fresh mozzarella mini balls (Bocconcini), or any fresh mozzarella torn into small pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 cups Pasta Sauce of choice (I used this leftover pizza sauce I had frozen)
Preparation
- Whisk the egg in a large bowl. Add the ground beef, chili powder, paprika, Italian herbs, salt, black pepper, and garlic and mix with your hands until combined.
- Pull enough of the mixture out (a couple of tablespoons worth should be plenty) to flatten and wrap around one mozzarella ball. Squish the edges together to be sure it is sealed, so the cheese won’t ooze out. Repeat this process until you’ve used up all the meat. Should make 10-12 meatballs.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the meatballs and cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until well-browned.
- When meatballs are browned, add the pasta sauce (enough to coat the bottom and come up about half-way on the meatballs. I used about 3 cups, but you can use more or less – whatever you like) to the skillet and simmer for about five minutes, turning occasionally to coat the meatballs.
- Serve over pasta, rice, as a sammich, or by themselves! I served ours over some yummy garlic, basil, and spinach linguine!!
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