These Meatballs Are Hiding a Delicious Surprise

To say my family enjoyed these cheese stuffed meatballs would be an understatement! I didn’t tell them about the cheesy surprise inside and watching their eyes light up when they took the first bite was so awesome. They made the perfect topping for a bed of spaghetti—I’m not sure we’ll ever have it any other way.

And I love that this is a crock pot recipe, too! That means you can prepare it in advance so come supper time all you need to do is cook the spaghetti and chow down. You can’t beat that!

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef (*may use only ground beef if you want)
1 lb. ground pork
4 grated parmesan cheese
1 to 1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 oz. fresh mozzarella, divided into 12 pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
2 jars of your favorite red (Spaghetti/Marinara) sauce
2 pounds spaghetti, cooked al dente
Instructions

In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef, ground pork, parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper, garlic, basil, parsley and dried oregano.

Add bread crumbs 1/2 cup at a time until mixture is not too wet and can be formed into balls easily.

Form mixture into 12 balls using your thumb to press a hole in the center. Insert a piece of the fresh mozzarella into the hole and close the hole by pushing the meatball mixture around it to secure the mozzarella inside each ball.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and drizzle olive oil into it. Add meatballs and cook until just browned.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer meatballs into a slow cooker. Pour red sauce over the meatballs and cook on LOW for approximately 5 hours. Serve the stuffed meatballs and sauce over spaghetti.