Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I had no idea what I wanted for dinner tonight but I knew I felt like something meaty, and tangy, and for a change, I actually had time to experiment!

What did I come up with? Meatballs with an Asian flair, in a tangy sweet and sour sauce, served over a bed of basmati rice....ummmm....deeelish! I also prepared the meatballs in the oven as per my mother's suggestion to expedite the cooking process. In the past, I would pan fry my home made meatballs, which took FOREVER, but this was sooo much easier and faster, and that's what I'm all about when it comes to cooking....big bang for your buck, small effort, big result! This turned out so good that I wrote everything down so I can reproduce what I did in the future (and share it with you here) :)

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1 lb lean ground beef (or pork)
2 eggs
2 tbsp ginger grated
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp liquid beef bouillon
1 tbsp soya sauce (after thought - not shown in photo)
3 tbsp sesame oil (after thought - not shown in photo)
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley (after thought - not shown in photo)
1 tbsp ground mustard
2 tbsp dijon mustard (after thought - not shown in photo)
1 tsp black pepper

Sauce:

3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
3/4 cup diced pineapple
1 medium onion diced
3 cups VH Sweet and Sour Sauce
3 tbsp EVOO
1 tsp salt



1) Prepare Meatballs

Mix all ingredients thoroughlly by hand in a large mixing bowl.

Form into meatballs (approx. 1 inch diameter).

Arrange on a non stick cookie sheet.



Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes (in convection oven, may need longer in non convection oven). Cut 1 meatball in half, if center is browned and steaming hot, and meatball is slightly firm to touch, it is cooked.



2) Start to prepare sauce while meatballs are cooking

Saute onion, red and green peppers until tender, salt to taste



3) Arrange meatballs with sauce in casserole dish

Spray bottom and sides of a casserole dish with cooking spray

Place meatballs in a casserole dish



Add sauteed veggies and pineapple

Pour sweet and sour sauce over top

Gently shift meatballs around to let sauce and veggies fill in spaces between meatballs, be careful not to break the meatballs when doing this



4) Bake meatballs in sauce

Cover casserole dish and bake at 375-400F for 30 minutes





5) Serve over basmati rice and enjoy!!!