#meatballs | Catherine's College Kitchen

I don’t know how many of you are on Pinterest, but here is a quick breakdown for you before I tell how a super sketchy pin turned out some delicious balls of meat. On Pinterest, you basically make boards of topics that interest you and the “pins” are links to websites with a picture of whatever it is you like from that link.

Now, every once in a while, you come across a pin that is not actually a link to anything but is just a picture that has been uploaded or posted and the information you want is all in the caption underneath. This isn’t super sketchy if someone puts up a cute outfit or a cool nail polish job, but I get kind of weirded out when someone puts up a recipe or DIY project like this. It’s like a ghost did it, I have no connection to another blog or website that has a personality and a history. And when it comes to making food from a source I don’t know ANYTHING about, I get kind of twitchy.

So I pinned one of these frighteningly unreliable pins one evening. And proceeded to make the meatballs it gave me instructions for. I live on the edge guys, try to not get too jealous.

Well, they turned out delightfully good! It was super easy and insanely cheap. Plus, I got to use my beloved basil plant, Barry. Not going to lie, that was one of the main reasons I wanted to try these. Another bonus, you get to mix everything with your hands! Ya. So this pin from a dark alley in a city at midnight turned out to be delicious, but still, I mistrust pins that don’t lead anywhere as a general rule.

These meatballs turned out to be the perfect consistency to just snack on by themselves, and we all had a grand time pretending they were fancy appetizers. We also had fun experimenting with different dipping sauces. We didn’t even get to try them with pasta because they were gone too fast, but you can obviously be more civilized than we were and have spaghetti and homemade meatballs. Seriously, the baking method made the juices caramelize and the balls of deliciously seasoned meat crunched just an itty bitty bit when I bit into them and were wonderfully flavorful for a recipe that uses such basic spices.

The recipe also makes enough for about three people and the leftovers are easily put in some tupperware or plastic baggie and saved for later in the fridge or freezer. I doubled the recipe because there were about 5 of us eating and since 4 of the 5 were guys, I needed plenty of food. I highly recommend doubling it when you make it because of the ease of freezing them. Just like you would a bag you buy from the store. That way, two weeks from now when you are just too tired to do anything but heat something up in the microwave, you have delicious homemade food you can turn to. Look at you go, planning ahead. It’s almost like you could be a functioning adult.

Thus, my epic culinary adventure ended with a happy tummy and a great sense of satisfaction.

Now experience it for yourself! Here is your cost breakdown (as usual, all prices are approximations):

1 lb. hamburger meat: $3.00 per lb if you don’t get super nice stuff
2 eggs: $0.40
1/2 C. milk: $0.50
1/2 C. grated parmesan: $0.75
1 C. bread crumbs: $0.30
2 cloves garlic: $0.15
1 tsp. onion powder: $0.05
1/2 tsp. oregano: $0.10 (oregano is more expensive than a spice like onion or garlic powder)
1/4 C. basil: $1.25 (this really depends on what form you use, dried will be cheaper, but for this recipe I highly recommend using fresh.)

Ingredients:

1 lb. hamburger meat (we were kind of an extreme budget and bought a literal tube of ground beef, sad I know)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. grated parmesan (I didn’t do an exact measurement of this, just a solid handful worked fine for me)
1 C. breadcrumbs (plain)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. onion powder (if you prefer using a fresh onion that works too, just make sure it is very finely diced because it is going in something so bite-sized)
1 tsp. salt, also some pepper if you want to add a dash
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 C. basil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie pan with parchment paper or spray with some Pam.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, herbs, salt, garlic, and milk.
Add in the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the meaty goodness with your hands until everything is evenly distributed.
Mixin’ it in.
Form the meatballs. The size is totally up to you, I like them a little smaller than a golf ball. Just be aware that if you any smaller than that you will have to decrease the cooking time a bit.
Put the meatballs onto the cookie pan and make sure they are not touching. Close is ok, touching is bad.
Since I doubled the recipe, there is a lot more meat action going on here.
Put those suckers into the oven for 30 mins. Make sure to check on them as they get close to being done.
Bakin up all nice and yummy. Almost done!
Take them out and let them cool for about 5 minutes.