Meats & Fish
1 cup Cubed Italian bread
1/4 cup Milk
1 ea Medium carrot, diced to 1/4 inch
2 tsp Olive oil
1/2 lb Ground beef, lean
1/2 lb Roasted mushroom base (just under 1/2 recipe, about 1 1/3 cups)
1/4 cup Onion, finely chopped
3 Tbs Beaten egg (1/2 extra large egg)
2 Tbs Finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
3/4 tsp Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
It's rare that meatballs can be described as light, but these are. You bake them in the oven at a low temperature and the result is a very tender meatball. The mushroom base renders a flavor that is more vegetal than meaty. The recipe is easy to double and the meatballs freeze well. They are great to have on hand. From NY Times, 3/13/2013.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put the bread in a bowl, toss with the milk (add a little more milk if 1/4 cup isn't enough to moisten all the bread) and let soak for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile toss the carrots with 2 teaspoons olive oil on a parchment-covered sheet pan and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until tender and lightly browned (you can also make the mushroom base at this time).
Squeeze the milk out of the bread and crumble the bread into a large bowl. Add the beef, mushrooms, carrots, onion, egg, parsley, salt, and pepper and mix together well.
Turn the oven down to 300°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment. Working in batches, pulse the meat and vegetable mixture in a food processor fitted with the steel blade until pasty. Return to the bowl. Fill a small bowl with water for dipping your hands, then with wet hands form 1-ounce balls, which will be about the size of a golf ball, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You will need to keep wetting your hands.
Bake 40 minutes, or until the meatballs are nicely browned.