Greek Meatballs

For years, my mom has made the best meatballs on the planet.  They're this perfect combination of meat an seasonings that hold together neatly in a little ball o' meat.  As a pasta fanatic, I appreciate a variation to the spaghetti and marinara dinner.  Meatballs make the dish a full meal.

This recipe has been in the dinner circulation for years, but this was the first time I took note of the recipe.  My mom made this recipe by combining two together.  These make a great partner to a spaghetti dinner, and with a hit of Greek influence I find these to be a knockout.



For this, you're going to need fresh herbs.  It's no shock that fresh is always best, but this recipe calls for a lot of fresh parsley and some mint, too.  I used my magic bullet to pulverize the leaves into nice, fine bits before mixing the meat together.

In a small bowl, I poured some heavy cream over a few slices of bread and let them soak.  This is a method my mom schooled me on, as it gives the meatballs the hold they need without drying them out.  I used my hands to combine the ground beef, soaked bread, panko, egg, mint, oregano, Parmesan, mixed Italian seasoning, Worcestershire, garlic, and salt in a large bowl until they were just combined.

I formed them into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, then lightly rolled them flour to help give them a light coat to lock in the moisture even further.

I set them on a broiler pan and baked them for 25 minutes, until they were browned on the outside and cooked throughout.

I made up a plate with some fresh pasta, marinara, and lightly sprinkled with some crumbled feta.

These were the absolute best meatballs I've ever had.  That parsley and mint really made these fresh and unique--the mint is subtle, and is just a hint of flavor.  The feta on top was fantastic with the marinara sauce, and really added some more Greek influence to the mix.  The bread definitely kept them moist - I still used panko bread crumbs but the combination with the soft bread made for a meatball that held its shape well.  All around, 2 thumbs up!

Greek Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3 slices white bread
1/3 cup heavy cream or milk
1 egg
1/2 cup seasoned panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped mint
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons mixed italian seasoning
1 tablespoon worchestershire
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut crust off bread an pour heavy cream over it in a small bowl.  Add ground beef, panko crumbs, soaked bread, egg, parsley, mint, oregano, mixed seasoning, and salt together and gently mix to make meatballs. Form into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Roll in flour.  Place on broiler pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until cooked throughout.