Classic Beef Meatballs

Recipe from “The Meatball Shop Cookbook” by Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow. Recipe can be halved or doubled to suit your needs.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds 80-percent lean ground beef
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
½ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon ground fennel
4 cups Classic Tomato Sauce (prepared or homemade)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle the olive oil into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface. Set aside. Combine the ground beef, ricotta, eggs, bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes and fennel in a large mixing bowl; mix by hand thoroughly. 

Roll the mixture into round, golf ball-size meatballs (about 1 ½ inches), making sure to pack the meat firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching one another.

Roast for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through. A meat thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball should read 165 degrees. While the meatballs are roasting, heat the tomato sauce in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring often.

When meatballs are firm and fully cooked, remove them from oven and drain excess grease from pan. Pour the tomato sauce over them. Return meatballs to oven and continue roasting for another 15 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen 1 ½-inch balls; serves 6.

Per meatball: 138 calories; 8 g fat (3 g saturated fat; 52 percent calories from fat); 5 g carbohydrates; 49 mg cholesterol; 373 mg sodium; 10 g protein; 0.5 g fiber.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130628/LIFESTYLE01/306280010#ixzz2XWYlvj3h