I didn’t plan to make meatballs.

But since they turned into melt-in-your-mouth, maybe-I-shouldn’t-freeze-them-after-all meatballs, I decided the recipe is share-worthy.

This whole meatball thing started with a gut feeling-a I’m-homesick-for-Florida feeling. I didn’t want to mention this feeling to Elvis (I know he misses our life in Florida, too) and so I struggled internally through coffee and emails. But then took a power walk and when I got home, I could breathe without that tight feeling in my chest-you know the one that comes just before a meltdown?

Elvis was standing in the center of the house starting at what I thought would be a weekend task-rearranging the two central rooms-the dining room and sitting room. I’d mentioned flipping the two earlier in the week.

“You really want to do this?” he asked.

“Yes. Do you?” He didn’t seem too hot about the idea when I suggested it.

“Yeah. If we don’t like it we can move it back,” he said. Then, “It should only take about an hour.”

I thought it best to leave it at that. There would be no moving the furniture back, and it was definitely going to take more than an hour. With our oversized house comes equally large furniture. And lots of it.

And so we spent the weekend rearranging furniture, which also involved dusting, vacuuming, removing the china and crystal from the china cabinet to discover that after two years sitting, it might be time to wash the stemware and glass shelves.

The result is a beautiful, cozy reading room in the front of the house with a view of the rose garden and a massive dining room space in the center of the house with a breathtaking view of the woods.

I wasn’t so homesick for Florida with a new view from the dining room table and my new reading room.

Yes, this really is a post about meatballs.

Sunday morning I rearranged my bookshelves and refilled the china cabinet. I was worn out and relieved we were grilling burgers for dinner-Elvis’s department. Until I removed the ground beef from the fridge Sunday afternoon to make the burger patties: Elvis bought two pounds of beef for two burgers.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been working to cut the amount of meat in my diet. I swear Elvis mentioned he wanted to eat less meat too.

Except when it comes to burgers apparently.

After I formed three patties (almost forget, Reagan gets a mini burger, too), I still had one pound of ground beef. I thought of what to do with the other pound of meat. Freezing is not an option, unless you have a suggestion for freezing ground beef I’m not aware of-please tell! I don’t like the texture, flavor, or anything about previously frozen ground beef. But I could be doing it all wrong, so don’t be shy-share your beef freezing secrets please!

Now Elvis loves meatballs and spaghetti, but he was leaving for the week, which meant I’d have to make meatballs, then freeze them. So I was back to my I don’t want to freeze ground beef dilemma. And  I didn’t want to make a red sauce for the meatballs!

Did I mention I was tired?

But in the end, and after a quick Google search on how to freeze meatballs (raw? fully cooked? in sauce? without sauce?), I discovered that meatballs are one of the best recipes to freeze.

What would I do without Google? (fodder for another post for sure.)

I dumped the pound of ground meat in a bowl, grabbed an egg, some fresh herbs, a little milk, a stick of butter, some shallots and a can of tomatoes to make the best meatballs I didn’t plan to make.

Freezing optional.

Appetite required.

Meltdown unnecessary.

Maureen’s Melt-In-Your-Mouth Meatballs

Sauce (because meatballs need red sauce) I used Marcella Hazan’s Butter & Onion Red Sauce recipe. Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 can tomatoes, chopped, or whole
• 1 stick butter, unsalted
• 1 medium sweet onion or two large shallots, peeled and sliced in half, lengthwise
• Kosher salt and black pepper

• ½ cup dry, fine bread crumbs
• ½ cup low-fat, or 1% milk
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, or a small sprig, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• In a large deep skillet, dump the can of tomatoes, the stick of butter, and the halved onion, cut side down. Cover with a vented lid and heat on medium heat, breaking apart the tomatoes, (if you used whole) until the butter melts and the tomatoes boil. Season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, about thirty minutes. Make red sauce ahead several days if desired.
• In a small bowl, add the milk and breadcrumbs. Let the mixture sit for about five minutes until the breadcrumbs absorb the milk. The mixture will be thick, almost paste-like.
• In a medium bowl, add the ground beef, egg, garlic, shallot, herbs, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Mix lightly, then add the thickened breadcrumbs. Mix again until the breadcrumbs cover the meat throughout.
• Roll into twenty-four meatballs, about the size of a golf ball. Don’t pack the balls, instead roll lightly.
• Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Work in batches of six and brown all sides of the meatballs. Place the browned balls in the red sauce to continue cooking.
• Add more oil if necessary to the skillet and continue with the remaining meatballs.
• Let cool and portion, or eat immediately, or refrigerate and eat the following day with pasta, or…

Do you freeze your meatballs? Or are they so good you don’t get the chance?