Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Herb Meatballs

I decided to have a big hurrah to say goodbye to summer … I took Thursday afternoon and Friday off so I could go up to visit my parents before the weekend started, since I had other plans for the rest of the weekend. While I was there, my cousin texted and asked if he could come up there this weekend.  I asked mom and she said “sure” … and then he texted that there would be six of them. And my sister and her clan of six were coming as well. And I was leaving.

Well, this news put us in a bit of a panic–what to FEED all these people? I decided I needed to help get some food prepared to ease the strain for mom and dad whilst their house was a whirlwind of children and dogs. I made my chocolate zucchini cake and then we started talking about meals. We settled on spaghetti and meatballs for one meal. I thought I would help by making the meatballs.

I ate a few of them, just to make sure they were good enough for the crowd. These meatballs are very flavorful from all the herbs in there, so you will want to serve them with a marinara sauce over pasta or zoodles to even out the taste. If you have a really flavorful sauce and you don’t want the meatballs to steal the show, I would cut the herbs in half.

Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Herb Meatballs

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: About 45 - 50 meatballs (I had 48) 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 lb. lean ground beef or venison
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 – 5 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
• 6 Tablespoons fresh chopped herbs (I used rosemary, basil, parsley, tarragon, & oregano)
• 1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 cup finely shredded zucchini
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Mozzarella pearls

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Mix together all ingredients except the mozzarella pearls in a large bowl.
2. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
3. To make each meatball, take a small lump of the meat mixture and form it around a pearl of mozzarella to completely encase the cheese. Set the meatball on the prepared pan and repeat until all the meat mixture is used up.
4. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or so or until the meatballs are done through. Serve hot with marinara sauce and spaghetti or zoodles.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Munching Monday, Treasure Box Tuesday, Full Plate Thursday, Freedom Fridays with All my Bloggy Friends, Foodie FriDIY, Friday Finds, Weekend Re-Treat, Home Matters and Hearth & Soul Bloghop.