Simple Savory & Satisfying: Spicy Parmesan Sausage Meatballs with a Whiskey Barbecue Sauce

Monday, January 27, 2014

Spicy Parmesan Sausage Meatballs with a Whiskey Barbecue Sauce

I don't eat red meat so meatballs are generally off the table (quite literally) in our house. But Eric loves them and I wanted to come up with some variation that we both could eat. Then it donned on me: sausage! We both like sausage, especially spicy sausage. These things smelled so good cooking that Eric couldn't resist coming into the kitchen more than once to see if they were done yet.

Sausage meatball recipe adapted from here.
Whiskey sauce recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
Meatballs
16-ounce roll of spicy pork sausage
1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Sauce

2/3 cup ketchup*
2/3 cup brown sugar*
1/3 cup honey whiskey (I used Jack Daniel's Honey Whiskey)

*Or you can substitute out the ketchup and brown sugar for 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce

Directions:
Meatballs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl with your hands. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place in the baking dish in a single layer.

Bake for 12-14 mintutes or until thoroughly cooked.

Sauce
Mix together ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes.*

Pour sauce over meatballs and serve.

*The cook time on this sauce should vary by taste. After 20 minutes of simmer, Eric thought the sauce still tasted too strongly of alcohol (I disagree, I loved it). Depending on your preferences, you could cook the sauce for longer to burn off more of the booze or pour in less whiskey to begin with. Just taste the sauce as you go until you find your perfect balance.