Meatloaf is the perfect side to a lot of meals, but sometimes you need something a little more bite-sized and personalized. Mozzarella-Stuffed Monster Meatballs take meatloaf and meatballs to another level.
These meatballs are great as an appetizer for a party, and they even work as meatballs with your traditional spaghetti. You'll love biting into these - the ooey gooey cheese in the middle is the best part!
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup milk or water
- 1 1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder and Italian herb seasoning
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 8 cubes
- 1/2 cup bottled strained tomatoes (passata)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In bowl, mix bread crumbs with milk. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in egg, garlic powder, onion powder, 1 teaspoon of the Italian herb seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Mix in beef just until combined and no streaks of bread crumb mixture are visible (do not overmix).
- Shape into 8 meatballs. Supporting opposing sides of 1 meatball with 2 fingers, press opposite index finger into centre to create 1-inch well; place 1 cube of the mozzarella inside. Press meat over to enclose mozzarella and reshape meatball. Repeat with remaining meatballs and mozzarella.
- Place each meatball into the wells of lightly greased muffin pan.
- Stir together strained tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar and remaining Italian herb seasoning, salt and pepper, then spoon over meatballs.
- Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted in several meat loaves reads 165 degrees, about 16 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with parsley and enjoy!
