Ricotta Meatballs

Now that I can finally breathe after that tumultuous Chiefs v. Bills game, I thought I would finally share this awesome recipe. It has been tested multiple times in my house and is always a hit. The BEST part about the recipe is the fact that it can be frozen and makes for a very easy dinner! Growing up, we were very much a meat sauce family. This is the first meatball I have actually enjoyed.

I prefer to throw mine on some spaghetti squash with some Trader Joe’s Garlic Marinara but Jeff prefers a more traditional approach: he wants authentic spaghetti noodles, a little sauce, and a TON of meatballs piled on top. Another idea would be to prep these in a crockpot and serve with toothpicks at a party or maybe on split dinner rolls for mini meatball marinara subs. 

For this recipe, you’re going to need:

1 pound of ground beef ( I use extra lean)

1 pound of ground sweet (or spicy) Italian pork

1 C of  breadcrumbs (NOT Panko)

½ C of fresh parsley (or ¼ of dried parsley)

2 Large eggs

2/3 C of Ricotta Cheese

1 tbsp of Italian Seasoning

1 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of dried chili flakes

salt and pepper to taste

 All the little notes in parentheses are things I wish I knew the first time I made the recipe. I would even go as far as to suggest you double the recipe if you’re feeding more than yourself and a lineman. They quickly dissapear, and you will be a little disappointed when you don’t have any left to freeze!

To prepare the meatballs, get out a large bowl and dump the meat in first. Next you will need to slowly incorporate the eggs, breadcrumbs, ricotta cheese, and seasonings.

Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and mix everything together. There really is no way to avoid this step unless you have some children would would probably be more than willing to help at this point.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

 Next form 2- inch balls with the mixture and place them on a greased cookie sheet if you plan to eat them immediately or place on a freezable tray if you are saving them for later.  (this recipe will yield about 20 2-inch meatballs)

Now, flash freeze the reserves for about an hour and then divide them up into Ziploc bags. Throw them in the freezer for the next time you are in a crunch looking for a fast and tasty dinner. 

Bake the other non-frozen meatballs for about 10- 15 minutes. They WILL NOT be fully cooked when you remove them from the oven.  The meatballs now need to simmer in the spaghetti sauce of your choice for about 20 minutes. I wouldn’t suggest skipping the baking step! 

Serve as you wish.

That’s it, couldn’t be easier! 

Tomorrow: How to feed the Chiefs Offensive Line. Complete with a menu and my spinach dip recipe!  

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