Meatballs:

• 2 lbs. ground beef

• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

• 1 egg beaten

• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped fine

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

• 1/4 cup chopped onion

• 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper

• 1 tablespoon oil or cooking spray for your pan

If you are using a casserole dish or a cast iron pan and you want to add extra ingredients to the pan as I have in my photos, see Step 4 for special directions. I put the leftover peppers, onion, mushrooms, fresh parsley, garlic, and fresh oregano. I do this because I add it all to my sauce! Here are those ingredients.

• 4-6 garlic cloves halved

• whatever you have left over for onions, peppers, and mushrooms

• 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley

• 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped oregano

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. You can cook your meatballs on a large baking sheet, in a casserole dish, or in a cast iron pan. Get out a medium sized mixing bowl, and chop all of your vegetables and spices.

Step 2

In your mixing bowl, add all your ingredients and blend well using your hand and fingers to squish all the meat, egg and indredients together.

Step 3

If you are doing Step 4, be sure to coat your pan with oil before adding the meatballs. When everything is blended, roll the mixture with the palms of your hands into 12 balls (about 1/3 of a cup of mixture per meatball) and place them on your pan of choice. Make sure there is some room between your meatballs, about a half inch or more.

Step 4

If you are using a casserole dish or cast iron pan and you want to add extra spices and veggies in between the meatballs, say so you can add it all to your sauce when its done cooking, now is the time to do it. BUT FIRST make sure there is oil covering the bottom of your pan, so nothing burns to the bottom of the pan. I usually take the extra garlic cloves (between 4-6) and chop them in half then scatter them in between the meatballs. I also add extra chopped parsley, fresh chopped oregano, left over peppers, mushrooms, and onions. Refer to the photo of my dish, it is best that you scatter these ingredients between the meatballs. Anything you might put on top of the meatballs will most likely just burn.

Step 5

Place your pan of choice in the oven betwen 35 -50 minutes. The time depends on what type of pan you chose, whether you added a dense amount of extras between your meatballs, the size of your meatballs, and how far apart you spaced them. I like to begin by cooking them for 35 minutes, then taking a peak to see if they have browned over the top and bottom. The real test is to cut one in half and make sure the meat is not red. If the meat is red in at all when you cut one in half then they are not done and put them back in for ten minutes. The thing about meatballs is that people tend to like them cooked to different points, I like to cook mine longer, so that they get almost a little crispy on top.

Step 6

Once the meatballs are done, add them to a dish like pasta, or in a sandwich! Enjoy!