Super Bowl Food: Italian Meatballs with Marinara Dipping Sauce

Yesterday I wrote about Spicy Meatballs that could set your mouth on fire. Not everyone wants to set their mouth on fire, so these Italian meatballs with Marinara Sauce are a great addition to your Super Bowl Food Table.

These homemade meatballs are so easy to make. You can prepare them ahead of time and reheat right before the party. They’re actually pretty good cold too.

Homemade Italian Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground sausage
• 3 T. finely minced onion
• 3 T. finely minced green bell pepper
• half of a 10-ounce package of chopped, frozen spinach, thawed
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. pepper
• 1 T. Italian Seasonings (Yes, this is a lot but you want a really distinctive Italian flavor)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. breadcrumbs
• 2 T. marinara sauce
• 3 ounces grated Parmesan

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Squish all the meatball ingredients together with your hands until they’re thoroughly mixed.

Form meat mixture into 1 to 1.5 inch meatballs. Place meatballs on a cookie sheet or a rack placed in a jelly roll pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until done.

Serve with a marinara dipping sauce. I just bought the jar at the grocery store that sounded the best to me.

Use little straight pretzels instead of toothpicks.

Now for the disclaimers and confessions: first off, I made two batches of meatballs at the same time so I didn’t have that awkward 1/2 a package of frozen spinach lying about. Also, I used venison and pork sausage instead of ground beef and pork sausage. And YOU can use whatever meat you so desire. If you don’t eat pork, just use a full pound of whatever ground meat you want.

For a spicier version of mini-meatballs and some Tsatziki dipping Sauce, try yesterday’s post.

Barb