Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

My sister Whitney texted me to say she made meatballs stuffed with mozzarella cheese. I think she found the idea on another blog, but I don't know which one. That sounded so good to me. I couldn't decide if I wanted spaghetti and meatballs or what. I just wanted meatballs. I love them!

This recipe is good for so many things. You can make the meatballs smaller and serve as an appetizer with marinara dipping sauce. You can make them large for a variety of dishes. This time we ended up having meatball sandwiches.

What you need:
1 lb. Ground Beef
1/4 c Plain Bread Crumbs
Mozzarella Pearls
Seasonings of your choice (Garlic, Red Peppers, Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Basil, Italian Seasoning etc.)
1 egg
Olive Oil

To start open the package the of mozzarella pearls. Mine were in a big clump. To make things easier when I would have raw meat on my hands I separated the pearls in a bowl.

Next, prepare the meat. Add the bread crumbs and egg. For my seasoning I used fresh garlic, black pepper, red pepper flakes, salt, Italian seasoning and a small amount of onion powder. I don't use exact measurements all the time. I go by smell. When it smells good I'm happy. Mix this all up- I just use my hands.

Here is how I got the cheese inside the meat: Start at the top and go clockwise. You form your meat into a ball: about 1.5 inches. Press your thumb into it to make a dent. Add two or three mozzarella pearls. Fold the meat back up around the cheese. Simple!

Coat the bottom of a fry pan with oil. I always use olive oil, but vegetable oil is fine. I fry the meatballs until they are dark brown and crisp on the outside. Then I stick them in a preheated 350 degree oven to finish cooking all the way through. (I'm very paranoid about raw meat.)

If you didn't get the meat all the way around the cheese it oozes out while you cook them. It makes this delicious crust on the cheese. I loved it! So don't worry about them being perfect!

Once they are cooked through you have something like this! Oh it makes my mouth water all over again!

Like I said before we had meatball sandwiches. There were these mini French bread loaves in the bakery that screamed my name. I was lazy and bought a jar of sauce, but it was pretty good. We shoved a couple meatballs in the bread, added some sauce and melted more shredded mozzarella on top. It was awesome.