Homemade Meatballs

1 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 shallots finely diced

3 cloves garlic minced or grated
1 pound ground beef I recommend using 80/20 ground beef
1 pound ground pork

⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
⅓ to ½ cup finely minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk and sour cream or ricotta; add the breadcrumbs and stir to combine. Let soak for 20 minutes.
While the breadcrumbs are soaking, heat butter and olive oil in a skillet until the butter is melted. Add the shallots and cook until softened, 3-5 minutes,

then add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, place ground beef and pork along with parmesan, parsley, soaked breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning and the shallot mixture, along with a couple of large pinches of salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix until well incorporated.

Place the meatball mixture in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. This helps with portioning.
While the mixture rests, take a small amount (about 1 tablespoon) of the mixture and pat it into a small patty; sear it in a skillet. Taste the patty and add more salt and pepper to the meatball mix if needed.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Using a cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons), portion all of the meat onto a lined or sprayed baking sheet. Once portioned, take each meatball and roll it into a ball with your palms. Try not to squeeze the mix too tightly; you don’t want the meatballs to be dense.

Place the meatballs on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Flip the meatballs and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Cut one meatball open to make sure it is cooked through; bake for additional time as necessary.
Add to pasta sauce, use in your recipe, or let cool and freeze for later.

Notes
Makes about 2 dozen meatballs.
To prevent the meatball mix from sticking to your hands while mixing and shaping, coat your palms in olive oil or wet your hands with water first.
You can pan fry the meatballs instead of baking them. To do so, in a large nonstick skillet, add about ¼-inch of olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat, then

add 5-6 meatballs. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown, then flip and repeat. Depending on the size of your meatballs and how much oil you have in your pan, you may want to do a third side. Once cooked, remove meatballs from the pan. Repeat with the remaining meatballs.