March Meatball Madness

Meatball Weekend is upon me.  Tomorrow I'll be preparing Tater Tot Hotdish Bites while my mom watches.  She attempted my recipe and it was a flop.  Second time's a charm.  Sunday afternoon my Swedish Meatballs are due at the American Swedish Institute for the big competition.  We competitors learned last week that they will be judged sans sauce, which makes my meatballs sad (The secret to my balls?  It is all in the sauce.).

With weekend rolling on my mind, it seemed appropriate to play ball with the Italian sausage we had for dinner last night.  Adding an egg, ricotta, fennel seeds, diced red onion, and bread crumbs to a pound of mild-spiced ground pork and beef made substantial (and rather heavy) meatballs.  Served with a quick red gravy, they were a noble fanfare to this weekend's pursuits.