How to Make Great Meatballs

There is a joke that I heard once that a daughter asks her very ill mother for some of her secret heirloom family recipes. They both get a good laugh as the mom tells her daughter that each of the six recipes she remembers fondly from her childhood are "on the back of the box." My secret meatball recipe should give you a good chuckle too...because mine is also pilfered from the back of the box of soup mix.

After a many years long search for the recipe for how to make meatballs,well to be honest the perfect meatballs; I came across this recipe for souperior meatloaf on the back of a box of Lipton soup mix and the perfect meatball recipe was formed so to speak.

This recipe is absolutely wonderful and comes out just as moist and perfectly for meat balls as it does for meatloaf:

1 envalope Lipton Recipe Secrets Beefy Onion soup mix.

2 pounds ground beef (I use the really lean 7% fat grind)

3/4 cup plain bread crumbs

2 eggs

3/4 cup water

1/3 ketchup

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350°. In large bowl, combine all ingredients. I mix all ingredients besides the meat first, it makes it a lot easier to distribute the seasonings evenly through the meat later. Combine mixture with the meat and mix gently until thoroughly combined.

Form meatballs and bake on cookie sheets until just cooked through and lightly browned. The cooking time will vary depending on how large you make your meat balls.

Baking meatballs rather than frying is an old chef's trick. You don't need to stand over the frying pan like you normally would, and don't need to turn the meat as it cooks. Not turning the meat makes for perfectly browned and nicely rounded meatballs every time, and solves the problem of the meatballs falling apart while cooking.

Recipe source: recipesecrets.com

The secret to quick clean up when baking meatballs is to line your baking sheets with baking parchment paper.

What is parchment paper?

Parchment paper is a nifty trick that pastry chefs use to keep their baking sheets clean in between washings. You line the pan with a thin sheet of parchment and food will never stick.

We all know the trick of lining a pan with aluminum foil to make clean up easier. When you are done cooking, you just toss the mess and your pans are still relatively clean.

Using parchment paper is the same principle, only with 1/10th of the cost. Standard parchment paper comes sized for a commercial sized bakery sheets and you can cover two cookie sheets by cutting one sheet of parchment in half.

Having a box of parchment around is wonderful when baking too. You'll never need to worry about adding fat to foods to oil a pan again, food never sticks, and clean up is a snap.

A word of warning about purchasing parchment paper in the grocery store. The stuff is hideously overpriced. I've seen as little as 10 cookie sheeet sized parchment paper liners being sold for $5.00 at times of the year when lots of baking is being done. This is a rediculously high price for a relatively inexpensive item.

Parchment paper is cheap when purchased correctly. Every city has a local bakery supply, or restraunt supply open to the public. The best prices I have ever found are under $10 for a giant 50 sheet box that when cut in half will give you 100 pan liners.

Quite the savings over lining your pans with aluminum foil and it does the job just as well.

1. Meatballs are cheap. Ground meat is always a cheaper alternative to a solid prime cut. Meatballs make cutting your grocery bill down to size easier.

2. Meatballs are quick to prepare. Because they are so small, meatballs are cooked and ready to eat in a snap. If you make your meatballs small, total preptime and cooking time combined are under 30 minutes.

3. Meatballs are versitile. There are hundreds of recipes for sauces, soups and stews to choose from so you will never want for variety.

4. Meatballs freeze well. I usually cut my prep time still further by making a double batch of meatloaf whenever I prepare it. I'll bake half as a meatloaf and then make the other half into meatballs, cook as above and then freeze. Whenever I double a batch I save the prep, cooking and clean up time the second time around. Talk about fast food!

5. Meatballs are favorite kid food. Kids absolutely love bite sized morsels of food, and mine are no exception. They always make a good meal when meatballs are on the menu.

6. Meatballs are downright tasty. No matter what else you do with your basic meatballs, they are always delicious. From plain to Swedish, or with spaghetti, meatballs hit the spot.