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I know, it’s been a few months. But I’m back! And I’ve got a bunch of new recipes that I’ve tried and loved. This one has been sitting here for a little bit but I’ve had to fight the urge to become a puddle on the floor, which is all I feel like doing in the summer.

Anyway, I know it goes against everything I complain about in the summer, but this recipe for Baked Meatballs is worth turning on the oven. It’s easy and delicious, and the cooked meatballs freeze beautifully. I make a double batch and use half of it for spaghetti, and the other half for meatball sandwiches.

The original recipe came from Alton Brown, but I’ve adapted it to fit what I like to work with — and also because I’m too cheap to buy lamb and ground pork. This works really well with all-beef, or half beef and half ground turkey.

The first couple of times I made this, I patted the mixture down onto a cutting board and cut the meatballs out with a knife to make sure they were all the right size. I then realized my 1 tablespoon scoop would do a much better and less messy job, and I haven’t looked back.

Don’t skip the bread crumbs on the outside — it adds crunch and a little extra flavor.

Baked Meatballs
adapted from Alton Brown

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 whole egg
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs, divided

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs. Mix all ingredients until well incorporated.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs into a small bowl. Scoop meatballs using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. Roll each ball in the remaining bread crumbs and place the meatballs on a parchment lined baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Try not to eat them all before they make it into the spaghetti.

I dump everything but the meat into a bowl first, it makes for easier mixing and makes sure everything is distributed evenly.

Roll each meatball in bread crumbs — it gives it really great texture.

I still love my pan-lining parchment/foil stuff!