Anne’s Meatballs

When I worked at the corporate dining room, we made bucketful’s of these meatballs for receptions,coated with a sauce made from grape jelly, chili sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice; probably sounds a bit odd, but tastes pretty good! They were always a hit.  We also like to make them for a main course, making them larger and serving with different sauces, perhaps a Swedish meatball sauce or a stroganoff sauce or even for spaghetti and meatballs. They are baked in the oven, instead of frying and can be made a couple of days ahead or even frozen until needed.

Makes About 60 Small Meatballs

2 lbs. medium ground beef, or a mixture of lean & medium
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
¼ cup homogenized milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
½ green pepper, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 ½ tsp. soy sauce

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Combine everything, except the meat. Mix well. Add the meat & combine, using a light touch. Shape into 1” balls. Place the meatballs, as they are formed, onto well-greased rimmed baking pans. Place in the oven for 15 minutes, turn them over & bake for a further 10 minutes or so, until cooked through.

The meatballs in the photo are served in a  basic stroganoff sauce consisting of sautéed onions & mushrooms, beef stock, a bit of  tomato paste & Worcestershire sauce, to which the pre-cooked meatballs are added; then covered & simmered for 15 minutes & finished with light sour cream that has a  couple of teaspoons of flour stirred in to thicken the sauce, simmered for 10 minutes, then seasoned with salt & pepper  & a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

FYI: Here is the “famous” sauce just in case!

1 jar grape jelly
1 jar Heinz chili sauce
Juice of 1 lemon

Combine in a medium size saucepan and heat on medium heat, on top of the stove until melted & hot. Pour over the hot meatballs & serve, using picks.

For more amazingly tempting meatball recipes, click Meatballs, A Hosts’ Friend.