Shabbos Meatballs

At our home, these meatballs are served every Friday night for Shabbos. With a nice piece of homemade challah, the sauce is delicious! This is very much a hands-on (literally) recipe, so make sure you wash up properly or use plastic disposable gloves.

Ingredients
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
2 cups water

Instructions
1. In medium bowl, mix beef, egg, parsley, garlic, black pepper and paprika with your hands.
2. Add tablespoons of breadcrumbs at a time until mixture is well combined (meat should be able to hold together).
3. Shape meat into tennis-ball sized balls (you can make them smaller or larger if you'd like, but vary cooking times accordingly).
4. Place a large non-stick skillet over medium-low hot. When pan starts to heat up (touch your hand to the pot lightly to feel a slight heat), add olive oil. When olive oil is hot (when a drop of water is dropped into oil, it should sizzle) add meatballs carefully. Brown meatballs on all sides by shaking pan carefully or using a wooden spoon.
5. Add diced onion and red bell pepper.
6. After a minute, add tomato sauce and water to cover top of meatballs. Add additional spices if desired.
7. Cover pot and simmer for approx. 45 minutes until sauce has thickened.

Serve one hot meatball with a spoonful of sauce per person!
These meatballs are also great over spaghetti, and leftovers can be transformed by mashing up the meatballs to make a super meat sauce over other pasta.
1 lb. beef should make 5 medium-sized meatballs; recipe can be doubled accordingly.