Baked Meatballs & Egg Noodles

I’m not much of a meat eater.  But my husband is.  So I’m always looking for easy ways to incorporate meat into more dishes.  Since we usually have a stock of organic, grass-fed beef in the freezer at all times, there are a few beef dishes that I always come back to when I need to whip up something quickly.  One of his favorites: meatballs with buttered egg noodles.

In the past, I would always pan fry the meatballs until beautifully browned.  But that requires a lot of attention and usually leaves my stove a mess.  This time, I decided to try baking them.  Although they didn’t get that golden crust from the pan, they cooked in no time at all and came out super moist!  Just delicious!  Short of making the traditional “Spaghetti and Meatballs” in a tomato sauce, where you would want to pan fry the meatballs to richen the flavor of the sauce you added to the pan later, baking them is my new favorite way to eat them.

Juicy Baked Meatballs

Serve with buttered egg noodles and top with parsley and freshly grated
parmesan cheese.

1 lb organic, grass-fed ground beef
3 tbsp plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup ketchup
splash of  Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
pinch of cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
additional ketchup for topping formed meatballs, optional

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In large bowl, combine beef with remaining ingredients.  Mix until just incorporated.

3.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  With 1″ cookie scoop, or hands, form 1″ meatballs and place evenly on lined baking sheet.  To add a little extra sweetness, top each formed meatball with ~1/4 tsp ketchup, if desired.

4.  Bake 12-14 minutes until just cooked through.

Serves 4.

NOTE:  If you subtitute “regular” ground beef for grass-fed beef, you may need to add on a few minutes to the cooking time as grass-fed beef cooks more quickly than grain-fed beef.