Harmony Kitchen

Aug 11, 2025 Recipe of the Week

I love cooking but don’t have the same amount of time in the peak of growing season to try new things or make leisurely meals.

This is the time of year I most appreciate a recipe I can make in bulk, freeze in portions and use in a multitude of different ways with no one feeling they are having the same meal on repeat.

Meatballs to the rescue!

These freeze like a dream, defrost easily and are great with pasta, on a sandwich, as a pizza topping or as a main protein with a side salad and some crusty bread.

Pantry items: 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Equipment:

Knife and Cutting Board

Mixing bowl

Food processor

Cast iron pan OR sheet pan

Method

Bread crumbs are one of those things you can make when your sourdough bread has been on the counter for a day or two too long, when you have even passed the stage of making it into croutons.

You need to catch it before it is a giant rock hard ball and cut it into slices. Then you can either let the slices dry on a rack on the counter or toast them at 350 degrees in the oven until they are very dry and brittle.

If you have a bag of stale bread that you cut into cubes and put in the freezer for croutons/bread crumbs, you can also pull that out and allow it to dry out on the counter or in the oven.

Or, if you are like me and just really want to make meatballs but don’t have any dried stale bread, you can just go ahead and slice and oven-dry a fresh loaf!

Once you have slices or cubes of bread, allow them to become fully dried (you want them to be brittle/have no give when you touch them) either by leaving them on a rack on the counter or by baking them on a baking sheet in the oven at 350, checking and turning them every 10-15 min until they are done. Once the bread is fully dried, give it a zip in the food processor until you have nice fine crumbs.

Any extra bread crumbs will last in a sealed container in the cupboard until next time you need them and are SO much better than store bought bread crumbs!

Next, cover the bread crumbs with milk and allow them to soak for about 10 minutes while you gather and prep your other ingredients.

Finely mince or grate garlic, wash and chop parsley, defrost ground pork and gather together the other ingredients.

The bread crumbs should soak up most of the milk. If there is a lot of extra, you can pour this off.

Then mix everything together, gently kneading the mixture with your hands so that it stays together well.

Form the mixture into any size of meatballs (larger for a main course and smaller for pizza, pasta or sandwiches) and cook until they are no longer pink in the middle.

For a single batch, it is easiest to cook in a lightly oiled cast iron pan on the stove top. For large batches, they are easiest to cook on a parchment-lined sheet pan in the oven, pre-heated to 450 degrees. The timing will vary depending on the size of the meatballs but aim to check them every 10 minutes and pull them out when they appear cooked through.

At this point, you can braise the meatballs in tomato sauce for sandwiches, pasta or a standalone dish or use them as a pizza topping (on top of pesto or tomato sauce!).

Time Savers, Storage Tips and Spin off Recipes

• Any unused meatballs can be portioned and frozen for another meal everyone will love!
• This recipe can very easily be scaled up so that you have a good supply of future meatballs:)

Did you Know?

Bulk cooking is one of the best defenses against relying on ultra-processed convenience foods.

Having pre-cooked and portioned healthy proteins on hand reduces the risk of feeling overwhelmed.

It helps at the end of a busy day when it comes time to prepare a meal everyone will love.

This Recipe’s Plant Count: Four plus whatever you put in your sauce!

Time Required: 20 minutes for one batch if you have bread crumbs pre-made; up to an hour to make a multi-batch with fresh bread crumbs

Number of Servings: 10 large meatballs/single batch