Dads Spaghetti and Smoked Meat Balls

OK so your family is craving some Italian food this weekend but you want to fire up the smoker. How could they possible be tired of ribs, pork, chicken and steak? Not me – ever!

So your dad says “how about spaghetti and meat balls??”.  Your mind starts to race – I can do that! The pasta is easy – boil some water and toss it in.  But the sauce and meatballs?? Everyone knows sauce (aka gravy) needs to simmer for at least 4 hours or until the entire house smells fills with those wonderful smells. So plan early on this one. Total time is about 5 hours.

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INGREDIENTS 
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2 lbs ground Italian sausage – preferably hot
2 lbs ground chuck
2 cups grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup Italian bread crumbs
3 eggs
¼ cup Oatmeal (not instant)
2 TBLS Italian seasonings
2 TBLS garlic powder

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PREPARATION
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• First combine both meats in a large non-reactive bowl. Use your hands and mix well.
• Next add cheese, oatmeal, seasonings and garlic. Continue to mix well using your hands.
• Lastly add the bread crumbs and eggs. Continue to use your hands squeezing and mixing the meat mixture. Make sure everything is blended well!
• Take (2) PhatMat Grill Mesh Mats and lay one each onto a half sheet baking sheet.
• Start with about 2 TBLS size pinch of meat.
• Roll meatball in the palm of your hands until you have a ball about 1.5” in diameter. You can roll slightly larger or slightly smaller depending on your preference.  Slightly larger size will require a bit longer to cook.
• Lay each meat ball on the PhatMat Grill Mats keeping a small gap between them.
• Continue till the meat mixture is gone. This makes about 50 meatballs.

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COOK
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• Get your smoker going and heat to 325F. We prefer Apple pellets in our Traeger for this dish.
• Once your smoker it at temperature, slide each PhatMat Grill Mat off the baking sheet and onto your smoker.  Adjust any meatballs as necessary to ensure no meatballs are touching.
• Cook 40 minutes or until the meatballs hit an internal termperature of 145F.
• Use your Chill Gear gloves to safely remove the PhatMat Grill Mats. Just grab the edges and place back into the baking pan.
• Now place all meatballs into your pot of sauce and let simmer 4 hours.