Bacon Cheeseburger Meatballs

Last January (or February), Cathy over at Noble Pig ran a contest for Superbowl party food. I love bacon cheeseburgers, so I came up with a recipe to try. My kids liked it, but they were a little dry. Drama Queen has been begging for them again so I decided to make some to take to my friend's house for our monthly movie night. I made some changes, including the cheese. I was thinking of using a big ball of mozzarella and cutting hunks off of it, but then I saw Ciliegine cheese in the deli. It is small balls of mozzarella, about the size of cherry tomatoes. Then I turned on Food Network and saw Big Daddy's house-and he was making the same thing! Great minds think alike, but it honestly freaked me out a bit! I didn't see the whole episode so I'm not sure what he put in the meatballs, but they looked good with the spaghetti at the end of the show.

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatballs

3 pounds ground beef

3 slices of bacon, cut in half lengthwise, then into small pieces

2 eggs

1/4 cup ketchup

2 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp grill seasoning-I used a blend from Penzey's, but grill seasoning would come close

1 container of Ciliegine

Break up ground beef in a bowl. Sprinkle with bacon pieces. In small bowl, combine ketchup, and Dijon mustard. Pour over meat mixture and gently squeeze the ingredients together so you don't overwork your meat. Sprinkle seasonings over, and squeeze another couple times. Take a palmful of meat and flatten out, place a mozzarella ball in the center and wrap the meat around cheese. I got 20 meatballs out of my three pounds of meat. They are big, maybe the size of a lime. Line two cookie sheets with foil, then top with a rack. I used two cooling racks as they fit the pans best. Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 to 38 minutes.

I put some away plain for my daughter, but the rest went into a crock pot with some spaghetti sauce and just warmed them together. You could serve with spaghetti or pile in a hoagie bun for a meatball sandwich. Smother them with sauce, onions and peppers and a little cheese on top, and pop in the oven for a few minutes to melt cheese and warm all the ingredients.

Dude seemed to like them too!