Wednesday, September 26, 2012

AB's Baked Meatballs




My friend Tori told me that she tried Alton Brown's (AB) baked meatballs the other day, and she said they were a scream! Not that I'm shocked...it is AB after all. I'd seen them in my Good Eats Book 2, but hadn't gotten around to trying them. So I decided to whip up a batch, modified a bit to what I had in the house (I don't typically keep ground lamb in the freezer, but I do keep ground pork and ground turkey!) So, I'm posting my modified recipe, but I'll post what AB used below in case you want to go with the original. I baked these to freeze and pull out for a quick and easy dinner one day.

AB's Baked Meatballs (my version)
Ingredients:
8 oz. ground pork
16 oz. ground turkey
5 oz. Swiss chard, chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 large egg
1.5 tsp dried basil
1.5 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used panko)

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine the following in a large mixing bowl: meats, chard, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs. Using your hands, mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Use immediately or put in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

3. Put the remaining 1/4 cup breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Cover a scale with plastic wrap. Weigh meatballs into 1.5 oz. portions and place on a half sheet pan. Using clean hands, shape the meatballs into rounds, roll in the breadcrumbs and place the meatballs in miniature muffin tin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. *If you don't have a miniature muffin tin cup, just place them on a half sheet pan.*

I did flip my oven to broil and broiled these little guys for about 4 minutes at the end - the turkey makes them look white, and meatballs to me should be brown and lovely.

AB's Ingredients as in the Good Eats Volume 2 book:
8 oz. ground pork
8 oz. ground lamb
8 oz. ground round
5 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 large egg
1.5 tsp dried basil
1.5 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

2 comments:

  1. Yes, these were quite good! My family yelled at me for not making more! HA! Guess I'll be doing a double batch next time!

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