Delicious Venison Italian Meatballs Recipe

Directions

• Combine the bread crumbs and milk in a small bowl, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Combine all ingredients (including the milk/bread crumbs mixture) in a large bowl. Thoroughly mix by hand or with a stand mixer until all ingredients are well incorporated, and the mixture is slightly sticky and not sopping wet.
• Cover the mixture with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Form individual meatballs out of the meat mixture that are approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter. This batch should produce 20 meatballs.
• Place the formed meatballs on a parchment-lined baking sheet until ready to sear them. Optionally place the sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes before searing.
• In a Dutch oven or large skillet, heat some olive oil up over medium-high heat. Place in as many meatballs as will comfortably fit, and sear on each side for about 2 minutes to develop a medium crust on all sides. Remove the seared meatballs and sear the next batch, until all meatballs have been seared. Add a little more olive oil if the skillet seems too dry at any point between batches.
• Arrange the seared meatballs on the parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the meatballs reach 160 degrees.
• The meatballs can now be eaten. Alternatively, they can be refrigerated or frozen to eat later.
• To freeze, flash-freeze them by placing the baking sheet full of meatballs into the freezer for 1 hour. Then vacuum seal or place in zip-lock bags. Now they can be stored in the freezer.
• To reheat after refrigerating or freezing, simply submerge a few meatballs into some marinara sauce in a saucepan. Bring the sauce to a low simmer and cover. For refrigerated meatballs, simmer for 10 minutes. For frozen meatballs, simmer for 30 minutes.