A Whole New Meatball

I love meatballs. They're so yummy, and they don't seem to require the "commitment" that a meatloaf does. I mean when you make a meatloaf, you've got a meatloaf, which is fine when you have lots of folks eating. For me, it means I'm eating meatloaf for a week. With meatballs I can eat two, or four, or five. Or I can snatch one out of the fridge with a fork for a meaty little snack.

Taking some inspiration from JP's Meatcake, I decided to once again wrap cheesy yummy goodness in meat, and oh... these babies are GOOD! I mean good as in really good. Good as in "I could eat a pound of meat and not realize it" good.

You have got to try this. Seriously.

Stuffed Meatballs

Filling:
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced

Meatball mixture:
2 lb ground meat
2 eggs
1 onion, minced
2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Start with your cream cheese filling. Gently saute onion and garlic with a small dab of butter or tallow in a pan over medium heat just until soft. In a small bowl combine onion and garlic to room temperature cream cheese and blend well.

Scoop out cream cheese mixture in 1-inch balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. They don't have to be perfectly round. Just little scoops will work fine. Place cheese balls in the freezer until firm.

In a large bowl blend meatball ingredients, mixing by hand.

Remove cheese balls from the freezer. Gently form meat mixture around each cheese ball. Each meatball will be about the size of a tennis ball.

Now here's the trick. You can put them on a cookie sheet, but I found it was easier (and safer for the meatballs) to put them in the pockets of a muffin tray. Besides, it's not like my muffin tray is getting that much love anymore.

Bake meatballs at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until browned. You may see a bit of the cream cheese bubbling to the surface, but that's OK. Let cool just slightly before serving. Sure, the cream cheese was frozen at the beginning, which does help save your tongue from white molten lava, but that cream cheese still gets pretty hot!

I really like these. Really, really. Oh, and they make great leftovers too! I brought the remaining two meatballs to work today, really wishing I had more. I didn't even bother to heat them up, just let them be at room temperature. It made a fantastic snack. You know I can't wait to make these again!