Makin' Meatballs

Food has become a bit of a challenge here at Casa Jaquandor of late, as The Wife has found it necessary to adopt a gluten-free diet. For the most part, we find that eating gluten-free is not that hard, as long as you are (a) diligent in checking the ingredients of what you eat, and (b) curious and willing to explore foods you're unfamiliar with. The Wife is very wide in her tastes and willing to try new foods, so while some favorites have slipped beyond our grasp, we've found other things to eat and we continue to look for ways to get back some stuff that's been ruled out. (I, personally, am not on a gluten-free diet, but it's often easier to just go that way, simply because it seems silly to make two meals every night.)

Anyway, one thing we've been stymied on is meatballs. We've always loved spaghetti and meatballs. We have found gluten-free spaghetti, but gluten-free meatballs have been a bit more difficult. So I figured it was time to take matters into my own hands.

Now, meatballs are one of those things I've always thought I should be making myself anyway, but never did because I was just lazy about it. This was the time, though, so I bought a package of hot italian sausage links and removed the meat from the casings. Then I mixed the meat by hand with a cup of gluten-free panko crumbs, about half a cup of grated Parmesan, two eggs, and about a half cup of milk. After that, it was a simple matter of shaping the meatballs and baking them at 400 degrees for about twenty-five minutes. The result? Wonderful meatballs that The Wife can eat! We had a few of them for dinner, and now the rest are in the freezer. (My total yield was about 36 meatballs.)