Monkeyball Sandwiches

So my brother Charlie wrote about Monkeyball Sandwiches and Tony wanted them stat!  Luckily, Charlie sent me the most important ingredient in my family’s Christmas box, the Pioneer Brand Gravy Mix.   Um, you’ll notice that Hannah decided to be my hand model!  Her friend works at a salon, and as a present, had one of her co-workers give her a free manicure this afternoon after school!

So while my brother provided the essential gravy mix, I had to come up with a meatball recipe.  I scoured a few and came up with this combination.  I started with “meatloaf” mix.  Look for it near the ground beef – its a combination of ground pork, veal and beef.  My store usually sells this combo for $3.99 a pound, so that was my base.

Italian Meatballs 

• 1 pound meatloaf mix
• 1/4 egg beaters
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (could have used a bit more I think)
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• cracked pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• and if these were just for me I would have added a TON of crushed red pepper!

Heat an oven-safe dish with about 1 teaspoon of oil.  When its sizzling, drop your meatballs in the bottom, making sure to coat them with the oil so they can easily be moved around and don’t stick to the bottom.  You want to form a crust on your meatballs.

Now let them set up, this takes a couple of minutes.  When you think the bottom is browned, start shaking the pan so that all sides get browned.  In total, this took about 7 minutes.  I had my oven preheated to 350 degrees.  I put a top on the pot and cooked them in the stove to finish for 15 minutes. 

Hannah and I had pasta – simple spaghettini, with an ounce of sliced volpi salami, Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese.  With 1/2 slice garlic bread.   Hannah’s, of course, had no sauce or meatballs!

So Charlie, do I get a prize for making the Monkeyball Sandwich??? 

Off to catch up on my blog reading, I am so far behind!!  See you tomorrow!