Baked Meatballs With Fresh Mozzarella Recipe

This recipe appears in the Thrive Market cookbook, Healthy Living Made Easy. Get your copy here, and find the ingredients in this shopping list.

These flavorful, tender meatballs are a breeze to whip up when you use a top-quality organic jarred tomato sauce. Add fresh mozzarella and chopped basil, and you can’t go wrong. Serve with olive oil–sautéed zucchini noodles for an ideal Paleo feast.

Baked Meatballs With Fresh Mozzarella

Yield: 6 servings
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 cup grated shallots, squeezed and drained of their juices
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 tablespoons chopped chives
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons sea salt
Zest of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 jar tomato basil tomato sauce
1 cup fresh mozzarella, sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place beef, shallots, egg yolks, parsely, chives, allspice, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and lemon zest in a large bowl and mix together with a fork until just combined. Shape into 1-inch sized meatballs.

Heat olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet. Brown meatballs on all sides, then pour tomato sauce over meatballs and place in oven to cook through, about 8 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and arrange sliced mozzarella over top. Place under broiler for 5 minutes until cheese is melted, browned, and bubbly.

Let cool slightly and top with fresh basil before serving.

Photo credit: Paul Delmont