What's not to like about a meatball? I grew up with homemade Swedish meatballs (a "secret" family recipe) and semi-homemade Italian meatballs (Tempo mix, which is actually pretty yummy for a fast meatball fix). Then, I married into an Italian family where the homemade Italian meatballs were as amazing as my mom's homemade Swedish ones (with very different flavors, of course, but both delicious). Over the years, I've loved the gamut of meatball-y creations. From mini, sweet-and-sour appetizer meatballs to IKEA's far-from-traditional Swedish meatballs to a sort of dessert "meatball" even (rolled freezer cookies made of oats and cocoa and sugary goodness and dubbed Eskimo Cookies in our family), I've loved them all.
The tomato balsamic meatballs that we made this week drew my attention because, as I've mentioned before, I like unique twists. Here the twist comes from the glaze, a sweet mix of balsamic vinegar, oil, sugar, and tomato paste. It's what gives the meatballs their personality, and I only wished that there were more of it. In my opinion, if you're gonna add some pizazz, why skimp? So next time, I'd either double the glaze and slather a greater amount on the meatballs or I'd double it, slather half, and reserve the other half for a dipping sauce. Either way, make extra! The meatballs, in and of themselves, are good, tasty, and perfectly delightful for a mid-week dinner. But, without the sauce, I wouldn't say that there's anything that makes them stand out as terribly unique.
On the first night that I made these meatballs, we ate them over pasta. As leftovers, we put them on grinder rolls, which was an even better idea. For the grinders, I whisked up some extra glaze, spread that on the rolls, added the meatballs, and then topped them with some grated Parmesan cheese. A perfect, filling winter-day lunch!
These meatballs are fantastic!! Yummy:-)
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