Italian Meatballs With Spinach and Cheese

Italian Spinach Meatballs lightens up a classic Italian dish without taking away the warm, comforting flavor. The addition of spinach in this healthy recipe gives these meatballs volume and fiber, which means you can eat the same amount of meatballs without consuming as many calories. This is a great way to "sneak" vegetables into your children's diets, because this dish is moist, flavorful and tastes just as good as the original. It's very easy to prepare, which makes this a great weeknight dinner option for you and your family.

SERVINGS 10

YIELD  30 meatballs

Ingredients

1lb ground beef
1(10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1⁄2cup parmesan cheese or 1⁄2 cupromano cheese
4ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
1cup bran flakes, crushed
1⁄4cup egg substitute or 1 egg

2 slices whole wheat Weight Watchers bread (or any half point bread)
1⁄4cup dried onion flakes
3garlic cloves, minced
1teaspoon italian seasoning
1⁄2teaspoon salt
1⁄8teaspoon black pepper


Tomato Sauce:

1 tsp olive oil
3 cloves smashed garlic
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 onion (don’t chop)
salt and pepper

Directions

Wet bread with water then mash up with your hands. Add to large bowl and combine with chopped beef, chopped spinach, egg, garlic, parsley, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients well until thoroughly combined and shape into 30 balls.

Spray a skillet with nonstick spray and fry balls just until browned, about 2-3 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put balls onto broiler pan (or pan with wire rack) sprayed with non-stick spray, and bake for 30 minutes. 

In a large pot, add olive oil and heat on medium. When hot add smashed garlic. When garlic is golden brown, add tomatoes, onion, salt and pepper and cover, reduce heat to low.

Drop meatballs into sauce and continue cooking the remaining meatballs, repeating the process. When all meatballs are in the sauce, simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes. Discard onion and serve.