ideas for left over meatballs

[melisa]

My mother-in-law gave me a ton of meatballs! Any suggestion? We've already done pasta and sandwiches.

[Gail]

You didn't say what the meatballs are made of or whether or not they have sauce. If they don't have sauce, you can serve some of them with a tomato sauce, some with maybe a mushroom or brown gravy and serve with rice or potato for a change of pace. You could slice some and use them as pizza toppings. You could chop them up, add some sautéed onion and sliced green olives, plop 'em into a flour tortilla, fold it over and fasten with toothpicks and fry them in oil for sort of a quasi-empanada. (which depending upon what's in the meatballs may or may not work) And though I'm not sure how effective this one would be since albondigas are usually dropped into the broth uncooked, but you could see what happens by trying your hand at a sort albondigas soup (meatball soup) by popping them into a broth of 1 minced onion, 1 minced clove of garlic fried in a couple of tablespoons of oil. Add about 1/2 can tomato sauce and 3 quarts of beef stock and cooking for maybe a half hour. (Topping it off with some minced cilantro.)

If, on the other hand, those meatballs already have sauce, I'd probably freeze them in batches before you suffer major meatball burn-out.

Good luck!

[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 09-09-2000).]

[Shelly]

Here's a really good recipe for BBQ Meatballs from my grandma if your meatballs are just plain. The recipe includes the meatballs, but you could skip that step. I love this recipe - it is relatively easy and everyone raves about these. They will think you slaved all day making them! For those who might try the entire recipe, I used very lean ground beef - 96% lean - so keep in mind that if you don't use the same thing, the fat content will be higher. Using 96% lean beef the fat content is only 15%, which you would never believe after tasting them! Gosh, I had all but forgotten about this recipe until this post reminded me! I'll have to make them soon!

BBQ Meatballs

Recipe By : Grandma
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Beef Healthy And Hearty
Main Dishes

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 lb 96% lean ground beef
3/4 c evaporated skim milk
1 c oatmeal
1 egg
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 c onion -- chopped fine
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
SAUCE:
1 c ketchup
1 c brown sugar
1 tbsp liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 c onion -- chopped fine
2 tbsp lemon juice

Combine all sauce ingredients and cook to boiling - set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ground beef and next 7 ingredients thoroughly. Shape tablespoons of mixture into balls (makes about 30) and place in a 10x15 jellyroll pan coated with cooking spray. Pour sauce over meatballs and bake 45 minutes.

Per serving (about 5 meatballs and who knows how much sauce): 369 cal, 6.5 g fat, 30 g protein, 49 g carbs

[Ohioan]

Another good thing to do with unsauced meatballs is break them up and make hash with them -- either the traditional way, i.e., with potatoes, or with rice as a variation on Cajun dirty rice. Come to think of it, they might be good that way even if they do have sauce.

Phoebe

[laden]

This idea would be for a party but it makes a great appetizer.

Dump plain meatballs (no sauce) in with one jar of Classico tomato-basil sauce. Wonderful but not really light.

[lindrusso]

Originally posted by Gail:
You could slice some and use them as pizza toppings. You could chop them up, add some sautéed onion and sliced green olives, plop 'em into a flour tortilla, fold it over and fasten with toothpicks and fry them in oil for sort of a quasi-empanada

OOOOhhhh - these two ideas sounds good! I have a bag of homemade meatballs in the freezer - yummy!

[Gail]

Lindrusso,

You understand, the empanada thing is kind of a hit-and-miss depending upon what's in the meatballs? It'd work much better with fresh ground beef. Depending upon what's in the meatballs, things like green pepper, diced chiles, raisins or a little cooked diced potato would also work with the meat.

Oh, and back to the leftover meatballs-- you could also do meatball calzones. Forgot that! Meatball, mushroom, maybe olives, cheese, peppers, artichokes, whatever grabs you.

[lindrusso]

Originally posted by Gail:
Oh, and back to the leftover meatballs-- you could also do meatball calzones. Forgot that! Meatball, mushroom, maybe olives, cheese, peppers, artichokes, whatever grabs you.

Gail,

Funny you mention calzones. Last night I had decided to "morph" your idea of using them for pizza and make calzones instead. Just happen to have some pizza dough in the freezer too. The quasi-empanadas sound very good, but not as kid-friendly. My kids cry if their food falls apart - http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/rolleyes.gif - so the empanadas would probably not go over very well. Some day when my husband and I are eating alone....

[Gail]

Originally posted by lindrusso:
[B... My kids cry if their food falls apart ....

[/B]

Funny, I have the same reaction when the food I'm cooking falls apart! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif