Why make traditional meatballs when you can create ones with a little flair? These spiky meatballs look a little bit like porcupines. The rice makes the meatball even hardier than normal.
In a pinch, you can use a jar of spaghetti sauce in place of pureed fresh tomatoes in this dish. The yield here is about 18 – 1 ½” meatballs.
Spiky Meatballs
Why make traditional meatballs when you can create ones with a little flair? These spiky meatballs look a little bit like porcupines. The rice makes the meatball even hardier than normal. In a pinch, you can use a jar of spaghetti sauce in place of pureed fresh tomatoes in this dish. The yield here is about 18 - 1 ½” meatballs.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb 80/20 ground beef
- ¾ cup uncooked long-grain rice
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup white onion, (minced)
- 1 tsp parsley flakes
- 3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp each garlic powder & onion powder
- Salt to taste
- tbsp olive oil
INGREDIENTS - SAUCE
- 3 ½ cups fresh pureed tomatoes
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp finely minced onion
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp parsley
- Fresh pepper to taste
Instructions
- Set your oven to 350F.
- While it’s warming, mix your beef, rice, milk, onion, parsley, and 1 tsp of the Worchestersauce together. Make sure everything is well-combined.
- Shape into your meatballs, about 1 ½” in size.
- Warm the olive oil over medium heat. Lay the meatballs to sautee inside. Leave yourself enough room to turn them. You may have to do two batches.
- When they are golden (about 10 minutes), transfer them to an oil-treated baking dish.
- Whip up your sauce in a blender with all the ingredients, including the last 2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce.
- Pour some sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.
- Add the meatballs and cover them evenly with the rest of the sauce.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 40 minutes, then remove the foil.
- Continue baking uncovered for 15 minutes.**
- ** If you’d like to add cheese, now’s the time. Mozzarella is an ideal choice. These go well with a pasta salad.