4 lb ground beef, 85% lean
1 lb ground pork
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground hot red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder (not salt)
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
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6 whole eggs, beaten
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups Progresso Italian bread crumbs
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1 cup olive oil (for pan)

In a large bowl, combine ground beef and pork. Sprinkle evenly with seasonings while mixing lightly (do not press together). Mix well.

Add eggs, parsley, cheese and bread crumbs. Mix lightly but well. Make sure to turn up bread crumbs from bottom of bowl and stir in until mixture appears to be all the same color.

Using your hands, lightly form a ball, without pressing the meat mixture too much to avoid making the meatballs tough. To make a consistent size, use your ring finger reaching to your thumb as a gauge.

Heat olive oil in skillet on medium to medium-high heat until bubbly. (Add a few extra whole cloves of garlic to the pan to flavor the oil, if desired.)

Add meatballs to pan after oil is hot. As the meatballs brown on the bottom, turn them using a large spoon until they are brown on all sides. You can cook them until they are completely cooked in the center, or alternatively, if you have a pot of pasta sauce ready nearby, you can just quickly brown the meatballs and then finish cooking them in the sauce. Another method is to brown the meatballs, then finish cooking them in a 300°F oven.

Before storing meatballs in the refrigerator or freezer or adding them to the sauce, drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.

These can be made in advance and refrigerated or frozen either with or without pasta sauce. They make wonderful ready-to-serve freezer packs in single portions when stored in vacuum boil-in bags! We make packages of 2 meatballs per small bag along with about 1/4 cup of pasta sauce (or even salsa!)

Makes about 50 meatballs.

Submitted by: CM