Award Winning Italian Meatballs

Here is a recipe for Italian meatballs that helped win a cooking contest that I entered. The prize for the winner was a limo for the night for friends and family and a trip to San Francisco to a top notch Italian restaurant called Fior d'Italia. If you have a recipe for a dish that you love, you might consider entering a cooking contest. There are thousands of cooking contests around the United States.

Some of the winners receive money, prizes or their own cooking show on TV. The Food Network TV channel is always casting for a competition. Check out their web site for; The Next Food Network Star competition.

Here is my Italian meatball recipe. The recipe that won the award is called; "Rigatoni Pasta With Raisin Meatballs And Portabella Mushrooms Topped With A Fresh Tomato-Marsala Sauce."

Chef Vinny's Italian Meatballs

2 lb. Ground beef (chuck or regular) not lean

2 tsp of salt or more if you like

3 large garlic cloves minced

4 eggs

1 tsp of minced dry basil leafs

½ tsp of minced dried oregano

½ tsp of black pepper

¼ cup of fresh chopped parsley

¼ - ½ cup of plain breadcrumbs

¼ cup of grated fresh parmesan or Romano cheese

(Optional) ¼ cup of raisins makes great tasting meatballs!!

Mix all in large bowl with your hands and form meatballs. Place on an oven tray and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until they become firm and slightly brown. Don't over cook.

When done place all the meatballs into your favorite pasta tomato sauce and let simmer or medium heat until the meatballs are cooked all the way through. Serve with your favorite pasta. Enjoy!

Cooking Recipe - Do You Fancy a Tasty Italian Meatballs on Spaghetti Recipe?

Are you bored with preparing the same old meals week in and week out? Well here is a recipe for Italian Meatballs with Spaghetti. It's delicious, it looks good, it smells good and it tastes great. It will delight you and any guests you have invited around for a meal. The whole meal is inexpensive to make, it only takes a few minutes to prepare and the cooking only takes up to an hour. Let me first tell you about the pasta itself.

A good tip to get pasta the right texture is to remove a small piece from the saucepan and test it between your front teeth. It should be tender but still firm to the bite. Never simmer pasta but boil it in slightly salted water quite vigorously until it softens.

Then test it with your teeth after a few minutes. Always make the pasta towards the end when preparing this recipe. Do not leave pasta standing because it goes tough and unpleasant.

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 slices of thick bread (cut off the crusts)
2 table spoons of olive oil
1 red onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 large tin of chopped tomatoes
8 basil leaves
3 table spoons of tomato puree
1lb of lean minced beef
1 table spoons of sugar
2 eggs
1 table spoons of fresh parsley chopped
1 table spoons of fresh basil chopped
12oz of dried spaghetti
salt and pepper
fresh grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle over when serving

Method

Place the bread in a dish and soak with water. The water should just cover the bread and leave it for about 5 minutes, then drain off the excess water and squeeze the bread to remove all the liquid. Heat in a saucepan the olive oil, add the onion and half the garlic and occasionally stir while gently cooking over a medium heat. Add the tomatoes plus juice, basil leaves, tomato puree and sugar and then season with salt and pepper.

Bring to boil all the contents then reduce the heat to a simmer. After about 20 minutes this should reduce to a thickened and pulpy mixture. Using a large mixing bowl put in the bread, minced beef, eggs, parsley, basil and remaining garlic. Mix them all together using your hands and add a little salt to taste.

When this is done, make little balls of the mixture. Drop them into the saucepan containing your tomato sauce. Cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes. About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve your dish, boil some slightly salted water in a saucepan. Add the spaghetti. Boil for 10 minutes and test. Once it is ready, drain it well.

Put the spaghetti into a large shallow bowl. Place your meatballs on top. Gently pour the sauce over the meatballs and the spaghetti. Sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese and serve. If you find Parmesan a little strong, use a milder cheese of your own choice.

A nice green salad is highly recommended with this recipe. And don't forget a generous helping of a quality olive oil which goes well with any salad or cooking recipe in my opinion. To accompany this meal have a glass of red wine. Enjoy.

Appetizer Recipes for the Super Bowl - Game Time Meatballs

Prepare these tasty meatballs early in the morning, and by game time they'll be ready to go.

1 cup milk

3/4 cup quick cooking oats

3 tablespoons onion, finely chopped

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1-1/2 pounds ground beef

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

In a bowl, combine the milk, oats, onion and salt. Crumble the beef over the mixture and mix together well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place balls into a 5-quart slow cooker.

In another bowl, combine the ketchup, water,vinegar and the sugar; mix well. Pour over meatballs. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours or until the meat is no longer pink.

Hot Bacon Cheese Dip

This appetizer is packed with cheese and bacon flavor. It's a real people pleaser.

2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, cubed

4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup half and half cream

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon dried minced onion

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

16 bacon stips, cooked and crumbled

Tortilla chips and/or French bread slices

Directions

In a 1-1/2-quart slow cooker, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, cream, Worcestershire sauce, minced onion and mustard. Cover and cook for 2 hours or until the cheeses are melted; stirring occasionally.

Stir in the bacon just before you're ready to serve. Serve with warm tortilla chips and/or French bread slices.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

This is an easy to prepare finger food made with mushrooms, Italian sausage, spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese.

24 large mushrooms

1 pound bulk Italian sausage

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

1 cup spaghetti sauce

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 15x10-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Cut stems from mushrooms and set the mushroom caps aside. Chop up the mushroom stems and set aside.

In a skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until brown. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon.

Saute the onions and mushroom stems in the pan drippings. Stir in the spaghetti sauce and the sausage. Stuff mixture into mushroom caps. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.

Place caps inside the prepared baking dish. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.