Meatballs

A fantastic meatball recipe from a true Italian chef (Drew's mom). She wrote out this recipe for us when we decided to take on making lasagna from scratch. And because she's a true chef, she didn't really have it written down anywhere...just kinda approximated it from memory. Anyway, it's a great recipe that yields tasty meatballs that are good in baked pasta or just with spaghetti. Enjoy!

-approx 1.25 lbs ground beef, lean
-1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
-1 egg
-1 clove very finely minced garlic
-approx. 1 tbsp very finely minced onion
-1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
-a couple shakes of oregano and basil
-1/2 tsp salt and a few shakes of pepper (i recommend more than a few shakes, but that's just me)
-fresh or dried parsley

1. Combine all ingredients, mix thoroughly.
2. Form into meatballs approximately 1 1/4" - 1 1/2" in diameter.
3. Start with 3-4 tbsp of olive oil in hot pan, put in the meatballs. Brown them evenly on all sides.
4. Lower the heat. Add about 1/2 cup of water and simmer them the rest of the way, usually for 15-20 minutes.
   
5. Put them in with sauce and simmer them that way for another hour or so (optional)

Yields about 25 meatballs.

from Jennifer Johnson