It's all in the Meatballs

Being a quarter Italian--although, if you ask my Grandma, I'm all Italian--homemade dishes like pasta, meatballs, and the Italian Easter Pie were staples I grew up with. While I had pasta with meat or marina sauce down, I had yet to attempt meatballs.

I figured meatballs would be on the simpler side of my culinary adventure and with a little help from my mother, I finally dove in--hands first. I didn't use an actual recipe; I just went by what my mom told me to put in them.

After mixing the meat, I formed my meatballs using a dough scoop and arranged them on my industrial-sized baking sheet. I popped them in the oven and then started on my homemade sauce.

In the past, I'd always used a packaged spice mixture. My grandfather always used it when I was growing up and I love the flavor it gives. However, I have been out of it for a while and haven't ordered more--as you must order it online now because it's no longer available in the store. So, I've learned to make my own marinara sauce with a unique blend of Italian spices. I'm still perfecting it, but it's getting there.

Once the meatballs were baked, I added them to my pot of sauce and then cooked them for about an hour to infuse the flavors.

I served them on hoagie rolls with some potato chips and it was a family favorite--as 35 or so meatballs were gone in one sitting!!!