Happy Friday everyone!  We are almost finished with my August recipes and I thought I’d give you my Spicy Meatballs dish to try over the weekend!  These meatballs are oh so spicy, with hints of fresh oregano and parsley, smokey sun-dried tomatoes, hot pepper flakes, and hot buffalo wing cheese from Bunker Hill for an extra kick!  After all this spice, you will need something sweet so check out my posts next week for a cinnamon baked apple and morning breakfast muffins!

I started with browning the meatballs, fresh minced garlic, herbs, seasonings, and olive oil together in a pan on medium heat.  I let the cherry tomatoes and tomatoes-on-the-vine start to burst before I threw in the garlic.  Garlic cooks up faster than the other ingredients and I didn’t want that to burn.

As the sauce was cooking, I started with ground meat and ground pork (hot) mixing in my hot pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, garlic salt, and pepper.  I used a large ice cream scooper to scoop the meat from the bowl making them relatively the same size.  All I had to do was form them into a ball and they were ready for the pan!

Once the meatballs hit the hot skillet, they started brown.  This is when I added more hot pepper flakes and fresh herbs.  I used up a small jar of sun-dried tomatoes and the oil from the tomatoes placing them overtop the meatballs.  Here I let all of the ingredients cook together for a few minutes before cutting the meatballs in half making sure they were cooking flat side down.  Once I was reassured the meatballs were cooked all the way through, I grated fresh hot buffalo wing cheese over the whole pan letting it melt over the meatballs.

This is a fun dish to make because it is incredibly easy, has loads of flavor, can be made as a meatball bake, a meatball sandwich, added to any pasta, or served up as an appetizer for a party.  Use some festive toothpicks (large) and build your appetizer up alternating the meatball with your favorite cheese(s).  Add a side of marinara sauce for dipping and your guests will love it.  If you are making these meatballs for your meatball hoagie, you might want to either double the sauce recipe or throw in a jar of your favorite marinara sauce because the sandwich might be a bit dry if you don’t.  And don’t forget to add a thick layer of cheese on top of your sandwich to broil in the oven for a few minutes!  If you love Italian bread like I do, cut up a fresh loaf of bread and use the sauce from the meatballs for dipping your bread into!  Sooo yummy!

Looking for more recipes, check out my previous posts and don’t forget to scroll to the bottom for more posts and related products through Amazon!