Meatball on English Muffin( Mini Pizza)

Chinese has this technique call " beating in water", when they deal with ground meat as a meat ball or filling for dumpling. The egg and corn starch will be use as glue which hold the meat together and tender. By add in water makes meat ball or filling more juicy. I promise You won't have dry meat ball again.

Preparation time: 5 minutes.

Cooking time: 40 minutes to fry meatballs and simmer in the tomato sauce.  5-10 minutes to make the Mini Pizza.

Make about 20 meatballs by using 1 1/2 inch scoop.


Ingredients:

1. 5 favorite sweet Italian sausage. Make about 20 meatballs by using 11/2 inch scoop.

2. 1 egg yolk.

3. 1 tablespoon tapiocan or corn starch.

4.  4 tablespoons water.

5. Vegetable oil for frying.

6.  1 can tomato sauce.

7.  1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese.

8.  Parsley roughly chopped.

Squeeze meat from sausage casing.  Mix with remaining  ingredients very well by hand, stir until the meat absorbs the water and comes like a sticky dough.   Do it fast and keep the meat  cooler than  room temperature, so the fat in the meat doesn't melt.

Prepare a sauce pan, add in tomato sauce and 1 cup of water, so the sauce won't burn easily.  Heat the sauce to boil, then reduce the heat down to a simmer, and cover to wait for the meat balls.

In a deep frying pan, on medium high heat, bring oil to 350 degrees F. *Oil is no more than half way high of frying pan for safety.  Choose 9inch wide and deep enough pot, so meatballs can be cover with oil, frying evenly nice golden brown and without by sucking too much oil.  Using a 1 1/2 inch scoop, gently drop balls into the oil, avoid overcrowding which cools down the oil temperature. Meatballs only take 2 minutes to fry to medium golden brown.  It's OK the inside is not cooked yet, because it will cook more in the sauce.

Once cooked, add the meatballs to the tomato sauce gradually, cover with lid, and simmer at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid the bottom burning. (If the sauce gets to thick, you can add more water, but keep the heat low.)

(*I know what are you thinking now.   Are you sure? Seriously? In western, we learn that gently fold in ground meat, avoid over mixing that is one way to keep meat soft, now you will be amaze this technique, I guarantee!*)

Preheat oven to 400degrees F.

Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up.  Apply sauced on halved English Muffin, then halved meatballs, sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 5 minutes at the bottom level of oven.  Sprinkle a little black pepper and parsley for fresh flavor and color.  Serve hot!


My Kids always come home starving after school, no matter what they had for lunch.   If I have the meatballs leftover.  I can just  fix this dish under 10 minutes, everyone is happy! You are saving the money and kids are eating health, too. It's a good thing!