Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Aunt Nancy's Spinach Balls - a holiday MUST!

I am from Wisconsin.  I have a large large family.  I grew up with 29 of my 31 first-cousins within a 2-minute to 2-hour drive of my home and we spent the majority of holidays and birthdays together.  This means any one of my 9 Aunts would be making something very Midwest and very delicious, like 3-tier red, white and blue jello-mold (love you Aunt Jane, I'll be tapping you for this recipe really soon!), scalloped potatoes, mini meatballs and wieners, bugles with onion dip, green beans with funions, etc... but my most favorite of all was, and still is, Aunt Nancy's spinach balls.  (One year she even sent me all the dry ingredients to my dorm room so I could make them in college - love that!)

And so, I have made these EVERY THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS for the past 12-years in Missoula.  My friends now expect them.  This year I am making them with gluten free bread crumbs so a few folks that I am especially thankful for will be able to enjoy them.

Here's the basic recipe...

2-pkg chopped spinach, thawed and drained really well (buy frozen but have made w/ fresh, just rinse, pat dry and chop well)
3/4 C. salted butter, very soft (that's 1.5 sticks)
2 C. seasoned bread crumbs (I am going to crush gluten free crackers to make these)
6-eggs
1-medium onion minced, shredded, or finely chopped w/ food processor
1 C. grated parmesan (grated worked better than shredded for texture)
Poultry Seasoning  (I can't remember how much right now, like a 1 Tbl or so... )
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat over to 375.  Line cookie sheets w/ parchment.  Mix all the ingredients together like a meat loaf. It will be sticky.  Roll into 1" balls and place on parchment.  (I really pack 'em on here but not touching.)
Bake for 20-mins, or until fully cooked through and bottoms are golden brown.  ALTERNATELY, bake for 10 mins and then fridge or freeze until you want to finish then off, then bake for 10-20-more to finish.

Serve warm... even the kids will devour them.