1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs (more if needed)
1 egg
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Franks red hot sauce (if you don't have both use 2 tsp. of what you have)
1 tbs. dried oregano (or 5-8 leaves of fresh)
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs. dried basil (or 5-8 leaves of fresh)
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika (regular will work too)
1/2 tsp. hot chili powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Put meat and bread crumbs aside.

Rough chop/dice everything else and put in in a blender or food processor. Pulse until well chopped/blended.

Put meat and bread crumbs along with the blended ingredients and start mixing. Think fold, not smoosh.

If the meatballs are to wet add more breadcrumbs to firm them up.

I prefer to use a teaspoon and form small/medium balls and cook them in an electric skillet at 250°F for 10 minutes and turning and cooking for another 10 minutes. After that they take a long slow cook in some red sauce to finish up as well as season the sauce.

Submitted by: Nigel W.