Meatballs

I made spaghetti for dinner tonight and thought I'd share a little something I learned about making meatballs.  :) The recipe says to bake them on a cookie sheet and turn them while they're cooking. I've done it this way, but they still get flat and a little overcooked on each side you put them on. Not to mention they're a bit greasy.



So last time I made meatballs I tried a different way to cook them. I set a wire cooling rack on top of the cookie sheet and placed the raw meatballs on the rack.






That way worked SO much better! The heat can circulate all around them so they don't need to be turned, meaning they came out round and evenly cooked.








And I like that the meatballs aren't sitting/cooking in a puddle of grease--it all drips down into pan. Look at what was left on the cookie sheet after I took the rack off... disgusting, right?



Here's the meatball recipe I normally use. It's from Taste of Home's Quick Cooking magazine. The recipe makes between 30-40 meatballs, depending on how big you like them. And, of course, I recommend MY cooking method ahead of hers.   :)

Make-Ahead Meatballs

1 egg

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

2 Tbsp. finely chopped onion

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. worcestershire sauce

1 lb. ground beef

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Shape meat into 1-inch balls and place in a single layer on an ungreased baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until no longer pink, turning often while cooking. Drain on paper towels.   

So that's my little cooking tip for the day! Hope it was helpful to somebody reading!

This last picture was one I took for fun while making dinner. The larger, regular sized bell pepper was from the store and the little one next to it was picked from our garden. Isn't it cute?  :)