Best Italian Meat Bars Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
• Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onions in hot oil until translucent, about 20 minutes.
• Mix beef and pork together in a large bowl. Stir onions, bread crumb mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian herb seasoning, and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.
• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Using wet hands, form meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Arrange onto prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

CLASSIC ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl mix together the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, minced garlic, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Slowly add the milk until you have a soft compact mixture.Form the mixture into small balls.
• In a large pan add the olive oil, garlic, tomato puree/passata, salt, fresh basil, oregano and water. Mix to combine.
• Add the meatballs and gently mix to cover them in sauce. Cover the pan and cook on low/medium (more low than medium) heat for approximately 15- 20 minutes, uncover and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes or until cooked through and the sauce has thickened. If you find the sauce thickening too much then add a little more water.
• Serve immediately as a main dish or over your favourite al dente pasta. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese before serving. Enjoy!

ITALIAN MEAT BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425.
• Spread 1 roll of crescent rolls over bottom of the greased 13 x 9 pan in a sheet, spreading slightly if necessary.
• Layer half of provolone cheese, overlapping.
• Create 1 layer of each italian meat, slightly overlapping, in the order of your choosing.
• layer the rest of the provolone over the italian meats.
• Unroll the other can of crescent rolls over the top, spreading slightly if necessary. Don't worry if it doesn't completely cover everything, they'll puff during baking.
• whisk together eggs and grated parmesan cheese.
• Using a pastry brush, brush ENTIRE MIXTURE over the top. You can pour it into the edges and corners if you like as well.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
• Cool and cut into bars, or along the triangles of the crescent dough for sandwiches.
• The meats in the recipe list are merely suggestions. I use whatever happens to be on sale when I go to the grocery store, but always use at least pepperoni, salami and capicola.
• Amount of meat can be adjusted based on personal preference.
• Instead of bars, you can also cut along the triangles from the crescent rolls and make 8 sandwiches instead.