Spicy Italian Meatballs

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Everyone should have a good meatball recipe. We’ve tried afew but haven’t found one that really impressed us until we tried this one fromKeely Marie’s blog. I have to say, I had my doubts when we were making this. Atfirst the mixture seemed incredibly dry. Then it seemed too wet and sticky. Butin the end, it turned out perfectly delicious. It’s not all that spicy,although it does have a nice subtle kick. So often meatballs just taste likebland hamburgers to me, but these have a definite depth of flavor, nicetexture, and stand on their own in a plate of spaghetti and sauce. We doubledthe batch and have about two servings frozen to make an easy meal later.(Single batch below).


1/2 ground beef1/2 pound italian sausage (I used Hot)1 medium onion, diced small1 large red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, diced small1 jalapeño, minced1 tablespoon olive oil 4 garlic cloves, minced1 cup Italian breadcrumbs (I did half Italian, half panko)3/4 cup grated parmesan1/4 teaspoon pepper1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon dried oregano (or basil)1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 egg3 tablespoons milk
I admit, I used a jar of sauce instead of being a goodlittle cook and making my own. I felt like focusing on perfecting the meatballsfirst would be better than trying to juggle too many spoons at once. But hey,if you are ambitious and want to do both, there are a couple great tomato saucerecipes on this site! Here and here. 
Start, as always, by doing all your prep work and chopping.The veggies will be in the meatball, so dice them pretty small. If they get toobig it changes the flavor profile of the meatball, and can also make themharder to stick together. Heat your olive oil in a pan over medium heat andthen sauté the onion, peppers and jalapeño for about 5 minutes. Add the garlicand sauté another 30 seconds before setting aside to cool.
In a separate bowl mix up your meats, breadcrumbs, parmesan,salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano. This is definitely one of those whereyou have to use your hands to make sure that it’s totally mixed. No one likesto get a big lump of garlic powder in their meatball! Once the sautéed veggiesare cool, add them into the mix and combine well. Add the egg and milk and keepmixing with your hands until the mixture is uniform.  
Your next step is to roll the balls and put them ona greased (or non-stick) baking sheet. I made mine so it they were about walnutsize. If you’re going to freeze some, you should roll them out and place themon a separate pan and freeze them. Once they are frozen you can put them in afreezer baggie. Bake the balls for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees. I rolledthem over halfway through. Once they are cooked you can add them to your sauceand let that warm up for ten minutes or so and they’ll suck up some saucy flavor.Serve over spaghetti and enjoy! Now you can end your search for the perfectmeatball recipe.