Italian Style Herbed Beef & Zucchini Meatballs

This weekend we stayed busy running errands and I did a lot of cooking to get a head start on the week since another tropical storm is dumping rain on us for the next few days. I made a big pot of chili in my Instant Pot and will post the recipe for it tomorrow. I made enough for us to enjoy for a couple of meals now and plenty of extra left to freeze and pull out for a quick meal some evening that I don't have time to cook, or just don't feel like cooking. For our dinner this evening, I oven roasted a bunch of Italian Style Meatballs filled with herbs, mozzarella, parmesan, and shredded zucchini to keep moist. They turned out awesome! I made 26 golf ball sized meatballs so we'd have plenty of extra leftover to freeze in a Ziploc freezer bag to pull out and pop into sauce and simmer for quick spaghetti (zoodles) and meatballs any time. I snapped a few photos of tonight's delicious meatballs as well as a pic of the yummy oven roasted butternut squash and miniature patty pan and zucchini squash I roasted to go alongside our meatballs. I heated up some marinara to use as a dipping sauce for our meatballs, but both hubby and I enjoyed eating them "as is" without any sauce since they were so flavorful. We enjoyed the roasted squash medley alongside our roasted meatballs. The recipe for the meatballs is below. Enjoy!

I roasted these for about 30 minutes at 425 degrees (tossed w/ olive oil, salt and pepper)

A new case for my phone...a beautiful gift from my youngest son!

Italian Style Herbed Beef & Zucchini Meatballs

Ingredients:

3 pounds ground beef (I used Costco's 88% lean ground beef)
1 medium zucchini, grated (press excess juices out between paper towels)
1 large egg
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Using a 3-tablespoon retractable scoop, divide meat and roll, using your hands, into approximately 24 to 30 golf-ball sized meatballs. Place in a large roasting pan, spaced about 1/2-inch apart. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes or until done.