This recipe came through one of the food sites on FaceBook on National Meatball and then I couldn't find it. Basically it is baked meatballs in French Onion Soup.. The meatballs were suppose to be stuffed with cheese cube and caramelized onions.. But the slices of onions were too large so I just used a cube of cheese, which if I was to do this again would use cooked chopped mushrooms and onions. I remember doing stuffed cheese burgers when they were the rage, but only once, this time, I can't say I could see the cheese!
My hubby is always assigned to do the meatballs and patties as he always very precise and the meatballs are uniform as are the patties.
I use one package of beef and pork which made about 50 meatballs, 40 of which I froze for later use.
To the meat mixture, add one egg, dried mustard and Worcestershire sauce, mix and form into small meatballs.
Caramelize 1-2 onions using water or wine. I use a Canadian Chef ( Michael Smith) method of steaming the onions until soft and golden. The use of a lid and liquid helps the onion cook slowly and caramelize to a golden color. Add the onions to a broth, I never use prepared broth, use homemade broth if you have or just add more water. Check out MIchael Smith's video for the soup.
To assemble, layer the onions in the broth into a cast iron skillet, then the uncooked mushroom, I added whole mushrooms which my hubby took out and sliced! Then the uncooked meatballs.
Bake at 325 to 350 for about 20-25 minutes, then add the grated mozzarella cheese and bake until meatballs are cooked and the mozzarella bubbly! Add parsley, which I didn't have but fresh grated parmesan was added!
I used mini skillet cast iron pans for individual serving, but will be making this dish in a larger skillet as an appetizer for a group. Enjoy with French Bread.
