Cheesy Stuffed Meatballs in Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 Pound pasta, spaghettini 
6 Cloves garlic, fresh minced, divided
28 Ounce(wt)s tomatoes, italian, canned crushed with your hands
15 Ounce(wt)s tomatoes, crushed
1 Tbls Silver Service Chef Zesty Italian Seasoning
1 Pound chuck, ground 
1 Large egg, whole 
2 Tbls milk, skim 
1/2 Cup breadcrumbs, plain 
3/4 Cups cheese, parmesan, grated 
2 Tbls parsley, flat-leaf chopped
1 to taste salt and pepper 
4 Ounce(wt)s cheese, mozzarella smoked cut into 1/2-inch chunks
10 Each basil, fresh chopped 


Tools Needed:
Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press
Rosle Can Opener
Microplane 40020 Classic Zester/Grater
OXO Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop

Directions: 
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. 

Once the water comes to a boil, add a generous handful of salt along with the pasta. Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package directions. 

Place a medium-size sauce pan over medium-high heat, add oil. Mince the garlic.  Add half of the garlic and cook until it starts to get lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer, cook for 8 to 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper, and Italian Seasoning. 

Grate the parmesan with the microplane grater.

While sauce is simmering, place the ground beef in a medium-size mixing bowl and add the egg, milk, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of grated cheese, the other half of the garlic and the parsley. 

Season the beef mixture with salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients together and using a medium cookie scoop, scoop mixture into 20 medium-size meatballs, each about 1 1/2-inches round. Flatten the meatballs.

Place a piece of cheese into the center of each meatball and maneuver the meat around the cheese to seal it in the middle. Place the meatballs in the tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until cooked through. 

Pour meatballs and sauce over the cooked pasta, sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and basil, and serve.

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