Ok, so this is either a Giant Italian Meatball recipe or a Mini Italian Meatloaf recipe. They are roughly the size of baseballs, so it’s a tough call one way or the other. At first, I was planning on making dinner with polenta and meatballs in my Homemade Marinara Sauce recipe. But when the craving for mashed potatoes kicked in, I decided to smash green peas into them as well. Whatever you decide to call them is up to you. However, these Giant Meatballs with Green Pea Mashed Potatoes are sure to be a crowd-pleaser!
On the table in just about one hour, the combination of these recipes is out of this world. The potatoes are creamy and buttery with smashed green peas mixed in. Topped with my Homemade Marinara Sauce recipe and the tangy Italian Meatballs sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, it’s really, really good. You’re going to love my Meatballs with Green Pea Mashed Potatoes recipe. The leftovers make incredible meatball sandwiches BTW.
Meatballs Ingredients
- Italian Sausage and Ground Beef: I use a combination of ground meat in this meatball recipe. The Italian sausage adds a nice depth of flavor to the meatballs that you don’t get with just ground beef.
- Garlic and Onions: The aromatics in the meatball recipe. You can sauté them before adding them to the other ingredients if you want to reduce their intensity.
- Egg, Milk, and Panko Breadcrumbs: This is what makes these Meatballs moist and delicious! When making meatballs you use a cooking technique called a ‘Panade’. It is a combination of a starch and liquid that is mixed into ground meats in order to bind them. By adding liquid to the binder, you keep the cooked meatballs tender and juicy.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano: Use the best quality Parmesan cheese you can. If it was sitting on a shelf in a can unrefrigerated, it’s not the same.
- Herbs and Spices: I use a nice combination of herbs and spices that work well with the Marinara sauce and is amazing with these green pea smashed potatoes.
Can I use a Store-Bought Marinara Sauce
This Marinara sauce recipe is awesome and goes great with my meatball recipe. However, making 3-recipes may not be what you want to do on a busy evening. I often cheat and use a good quality jarred Marinara sauce. Although, when I use jarred sauce, I always doctor the sauce with my own herbs and spices. And definitely get a good quality sauce.
If you like making tomato sauces and have a sensitive stomach, please try my Sensitive Stomach, Low-Acid Marinara Sauce.
Meatballs with Green Pea Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 Pound Ground Beef
- 1 Pound Italian Sausage
- 1/3 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
- 1/2 Cup Milk or Half & Half
- 1 Cup Onion Finely diced, presauteed is optional
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Crushed and chopped, sauteed is optional
- 2 Eggs Beaten
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/2 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Grated
- 1/4 Cup Flat-Leaf Parsley Finely chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Basil Finely chopped
Marinara Sauce
- 1 28-Ounce Can San Marzano Tomatoes
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Crushed and chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 2 Teaspoons Dried Oregano
- 2 Teaspoons Dried Basil or 1/4-cup fresh basil, finely chopped, add at the end
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
Green Pea Mashed Potatoes Instructions
- 1 1/2 Pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes Skin on
- 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
- 1/4 Cup Milk or Half & Half
- 1 Cup Frozen Green Peas
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
Meatball Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F°, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- n a large mixing bowl, combine milk, salt, herbs, red pepper flakes, and bread crumbs. Add eggs, beat until well combined
- Add onion, garlic, parmesan cheese, and herbs, mix to combine. Add beef and sausage, and with clean hands, mix all ingredients well
- Use a large ice cream scoop to form meatballs. For giant meatballs, each giant meatball gets two scoops. this makes 24 normal sized or 12 giant meatballs.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and place in the hot marinara sauce, cook until internal temperature reaches 160F°
Marinara Sauce Instructions
- In a large bowl, carefully crush the tomatoes by hand, they will squirt everywhere, so be gentle or you’ll be covered in tomato juice. Rinse the can with 1/2-cup of water to get all the sauce, add to the tomatoes.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and cook briefly, just to get the raw flavor out of it.
- Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Green Pea Mashed Potatoes Instructions
- Place potatoes in a saucepan covered in water, add enough salt to the water so that it tastes like the ocean (like pasta water). Boil potatoes until the point of a knife inserted pulls out easily
- Add the green peas and heat for one minute
- Drain the water from the pan, and return to the heat for 1 minute to cook off any excess moisture. Add butter half & half, salt and black pepper cover and reduce heat to low.
- Give the mixture a rough smash with a potato masher. Turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.
The combination of Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes is incredible!
Green Peas make this recipe healthy right? 😀
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