Baked Gyro Meatballs

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

• 2 slices of white bread, toasted lightly and crust removed
• ⅓ cup milk
• 1 lb ground beef
• ¼ cup minced yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp Greek Gyro blend
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

For the tomato sauce:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• ½ medium yellow onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup red cooking wine
• 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 tsp Gyro Blend
• ½ tsp each salt & pepper
• ½ tsp sugar

For the garnish:

• 2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Place toasted bread and milk in a small bowl or dish for 5 minutes. Squeeze the bread firmly to get rid of excess milk. Tear the bread into smaller pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the remaining meatball ingredients. Mix to combine all of the ingredients completely. Cover the mixture and place in the fridge for 1 hour.
2. To prepare the sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for about 3 minutes Add garlic and continue to cook for 2 more minutes. Add red wine and cook until the wine starts to reduce and thicken, about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce, Greek Gyro blend, salt, pepper and sugar. As soon as the mixture starts to boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 15 mins.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°F and take the meatball mixture out of the fridge.
4. In a 9” x 9” baking dish, add 1 Tbsp olive oil evenly over the baking dish using a paper towel or napkin. With wet hands, scoop about 2 ½ Tbsp of the meat mixture and roll into an oval/football shaped meatball. Place into the baking dish in rows. You should have about 12-14 meatballs. Top the meatballs with all of the sauce as evenly as possible.
5. Place the pan in the oven on the middle rack and cook for 35 minutes. Check after about 20-25 minutes to make sure the sauce is not getting too thick. If the sauce is getting too thick you can add a couple tablespoons of water to the baking dish to thin it out.
6. Once the meatballs are done, take out of the oven and let sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool a bit. Serve over rice and garnish with the chopped fresh parsley and pine nuts.