21st Century Meatballs

Total Time: 25 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 4 slices bread, crusts trimmed and bread torn into pieces
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 lb extra lean ground beef (you can use half ground beef and half ground turkey as a healthier option)
• 1/2 small onion, finely diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
• 1 celery, finely diced
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (if you don't have fresh available, you can use 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (for dusting)
• extra virgin olive oil

Recipe

• 1 place the torn bread pieces in a large bowl. pour the milk over it and toss to coat. let stand 5 minutes or until the bread absorbs the milk and becomes very soggy. add the ground beef, onion, carrot, celery, egg, parsley, oregano, garlic, salt, nutmeg, paprika, and pepper. using your hands, blend the mixture thoroughly.
• 2 in a large, non-stick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. shape the meat mixture into 24 golf-ball size meatballs, dusting your hands with flour to coat the meatballs and prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands. (do not pack the meatball too tightly, as this will result in tough meatballs. rather, very loosely form the balls.).
• 3 add the meatballs to the skillet and cook about 10 minutes, turning them to evenly brown all sides. (if your skillet will not accommodate all meatballs at once, cook them in batches, adding about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the bottom of the skillet with each batch.).
• 4 once meatballs are evenly brown on all sides, remove from the skillet and place on plate with paper towels covering it, to remove any excess oils that remain.