Meatballs... and Raspberry Tarts

"These meatballs are really good!"

I never, never thought I'd hear those words come out of his mouth.  And as one who loves a good meatball or meatloaf, I was delighted.  Carsten found this recipe at the ever-trusted smitten kitchen, and it is definitely a keeper.

We've made them twice now, and it seems like spaghetti and meatballs will continue to be our go-to dinner menu when we have a couple over for dinner, and had enough time to cook together.  The boys are in charge of making the pasta - they've got it down to a fine art, so who am I to come in and mess that up?  And the girls are in charge of the meatballs and sauce.  The guys can cover the salad, and the girls are all over the dessert.  Dessert is, after all, my favorite part to make.

This time, we had the Sharps over for dinner, and for dessert we made raspberry tarts.  I finally got to pull out the cute little individual tart pans that Mom got me a while ago.  I'd been waiting and waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them :)  I just threw together a whole wheat pie crust, then Michelle and I filled the tarts with a combination of whipped cream, mascarpone cheese, a couple spoonfuls of an italian sparking wine, a tablespoon of powdered sugar, and some lemon zest.  Then we piled them with fresh raspberries.  Yumm.

But as good as dessert was, the fresh pasta and homemade meatballs were the star of the evening.

Ingredients
serves about 8
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb italian sausage (unwrapped)
3-4 slices bacon
1 1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/3 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
1 teaspoon onion powder

Procedure
In a large skillet, cook the bacon until almost crispy.  Set the bacon aside to cool, leaving the grease in the pan.  Finely chop the bacon, and combine it with the ground beef, italian sausage and breadcrumbs.  Mix with your hands until well combined.  In the bacon grease, sautée the onion and garlic, then add to the meat mixture, again leaving the grease behind in the pan.  Whisk the egg, then add it to the meat, along with the parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and onion powder.

Form the meat into 2-inch balls.  Set the pan with the bacon grease over low heat, and add as many meatballs to the pan as you can, without having any touching each other.  Cover, and let them cook for a couple minutes on each side.  You want them to brown, but you also want them to cook fully before they burn on the outside!  When cooked, remove from the pan and let drain on a paper towel.  Continue cooking in batches until all meatballs are cooked.



share.eat.repeat.