Double-Duty Cooking: Italian Meatballs

So many people want to save time and money when they are cooking for their families. Cooking from scratch saves money but often takes more time in the kitchen. Some people can take one or two days a month to stock their freezers but even that can be a challenge for families with school-age children and their activities. Why not create a menu that takes just a few extra minutes of preparation but also makes the main component of a second meal?

I still remember the day my friend Trish taught me to make her spaghetti sauce. I don't remember all the ingredients but I do remember the technique as she showed me how to roll the meatballs into the skillet to help them retain their round shape.

These meatballs are easy to adapt to your tastes. The spices I use are geared to an Italian flavor. I use them for spaghetti and meatballs and then we will have meatball subs a week or two later. The meatballs are not completely cooked through once they are browned. I add them to the spaghetti sauce while it is simmering for 30-45 minutes.

Meatball subs are a breeze. We use 6-inch buns that are a bit soft and my boyfriend prefers cutting the meatballs in half before they go on the buns so they don't roll off when you bite into them. If the meatballs are frozen, let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then heat them up in your pizza sauce or any other red sauce for twenty-minutes. We use three or four meatballs per sandwich, add thinly sliced onions and a slice of mozzarella or provolone cheese. Heat the meatball subs, open-faced, in a 350-degree oven until the cheese is melted and the buns are toasty.

Double-Duty Italian Meatballs
1 ½ pounds ground chuck
1 pound ground pork
2 eggs
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon granulated garlic (not garlic salt)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground sage
1 ½ teaspoons paprika
1 ½ teaspoons Frank's Original Hot Sauce

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix well with your clean hands, taking care to completely incorporate the beef and pork together. Using one ounce of the mixture, form into approximately 40 meatballs with your hands. If you would like to make smaller meatballs to serve as appetizers, one-half ounce is a great size for one less-messy bite.

Once all of the meatballs have been shaped, add about one tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet and heat it over medium heat. Add the meatballs, rolling them across the pan. Don't overcrowd the skillet so that you can shake the pan a few times during the browning process to help them keep their shape. The meatballs will not be cooked completely through once they are browned - the final cooking comes when they are added to a sauce for your favorite purpose.

Remove the meatballs from the skillet and drain them on paper towels. Now, they are ready to be frozen for future use or added to a pot of spaghetti sauce.

By adding less than 10 minutes of additional preparation time to one evening's meal, you can have the main dish for a second meal a few weeks later. My total cost for these meatballs - enough to serve four people twice - was $6.98. The largest cost was the meat and I added about 75 cents to that with two eggs and my pantry ingredients.