Italian Meatball Bake

Not sure if I love Italian food or Mexican food more...guess it depends on the day, well today it's all about the Italian food. After having some issues with my stomach I decided to try to eat gluten free to see if it made a difference in how I feel. Make no mistake I am still eating carbs, rice & potatoes just not wheat. This was my attempt to make a low fat, gluten free meatball Italian dinner! And I have to say, it was great!!!

Ingredients:
(Meatballs)
1 lb lean ground beef
3 T egg whites
3 T green bell pepper, diced
3 T onion, diced
1 T fresh garlic, minced
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
3 T fresh grated Parmesan cheese
3 T shredded mozzarella cheese
2 T ground milled Fax seed (has to be ground and I use Bob's)
1 1/2 t kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper to taste

For the Sauce & Bake:
Use My Marinara 
1 large onion, sliced
1 large green bell pepper, sliced
4 slices of mozzarella cheese
25 slices of Turkey Pepperoni

Directions:
Make My Marinara and let it simmer while you make your meatballs. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray (I lined mine with foil then sprayed it because I'm lazy and don't want to clean it) but just have it ready. Place your meat in a mixing bowl and then place all of the ingredients for the meatballs on top, take your rings off, roll up your sleeves and dig in!

I took this picture so you could see, because once you ad the flax it just all looks brown...

At this point dig in and get your hands dirty, mix it all really well and then roll into 20 small meatballs and place on the baking/cookie sheet.

 Bake for 20 minutes or until they are cooked and look like this...

At this point you should probably try one, they are really yummy!

But then put them in your baking dish, top with the sliced onions, bell pepper and the turkey pepperoni, then pour the Marinara sauce in the dish give the dish a little 'shimmy-shake' to make it all meld together, no need to stir.

Then top with the cheese; a little fresh parm and the mozzarella.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until it is bubbly and the cheese is melted. I like the onions and bell peppers to stay a little crunchy so I am careful not to over bake, but if you want the veggies soft then bake it a little longer. I served mine over fresh sauteed zucchini and broccoli and my husband and kiddos ate it over penne pasta.

Mine

My husbands

No matter what you serve it on, it is good stuff! Enjoy!



Weight Watcher Friends: Each meatball has only 1 point, the sauce has 1 point for 1 cup and the then cheese is only 1 point for a half of a slice. My bowl had 4 meatballs, and it was 6 points with the sauce and cheese. If you eat it over pasta, then measure and calculate.