I came up with this recipe after finding an inspiration recipe in a magazine. The recipe in the magazine was similar but used a lot more ingredients. So, I thought I'd try to come up with my own, using a new spice that we received in the store this fall. The spice is call Nonna's Secret Italian Spice and I have to say it is a winner. I've made these meatballs before - following the recipe in the magazine - they were pretty good - family thought they were good but when I remade the recipe using the Nonna's Secret Spice - they were asking for the recipe. I have to say the spice mix really upped the flavor and made the meatballs really, really good! In fact, one comment was 'this is my new favorite dinner'. The recipe that I came up with is easy to make, you can play around with the quantity of meat - you just want more beef than Italian sausage, use bread crumbs instead of panko crumbs and use your favorite sauce. It's that simple and your house will smell delicious as they cook! (p.s. the spice is available on our website, along with many others - so jump online and have a browse)
Italian Meatballs
Combine and mix well (I use my hands to get this really mixed together)
1 kg lean ground beef
375 g. mild Italian sausage
2 eggs
1/2 c. panko crumbs
3 tbsp. Nonna's Secret Italian Spice
Now, form the meat mixture into 1" meatballs and place onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet - this recipe fills 2 cookie sheets.
Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove from oven and place into a baking dish, cover with your favorite pasta sauce (I use Prego's original), cover with mozza cheese and bake until cheese is golden and sauce is bubbling - about 20 minutes or so.
You can make these meatballs ahead and freeze them - either before sauce or after sauce - just remember your cooking times will be a bit longer if cooking from frozen.
Enjoy!