Twice Cooked Meatball Dumplings

Makes 30 Dumplings

The next time you want to impress your guests with an over the top appetizer or first course you want to serve twice cooked meatball dumplings – savory meatballs surrounded by a golden flaky biscuit dipped in a rich marinara. The inspiration for this dish came about when I realized that I had two cans of Pillsbury^® Grands Biscuits in the refrigerator that were getting ready to expire at the same time I had a desire for meatballs. I combined the two elements into a unique new appetizer that will satisfy children of all ages. I served the dumplings with marinara sauce but you can substitute any dipping sauce that you heart desires such as honey mustard or barbecue sauce. You can prepare them ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator. Just bake and serve immediately after they come out of the oven. Don’t forget the napkins!

Meatball Ingredients *

4 Slices of White Bread (chopped)

½ tsp Garlic Powder

½ tsp Salt

1 tsp Dried Parsley

¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper

2 TBS Grated Italian Cheese

2 Lg Eggs

2 TBS Water

1 lb Ground Meatloaf Mix or Ground Round *

Other Ingredients

3 pkgs. Pillsbury^® Grands Jr. Golden Layer Biscuits

2 C Marinara Tomato Sauce

Shredded Mozzarella

All Purpose Flour for dusting

Preheat your oven to 375°F.

In the bowl of your food processor place the bread (ripped into smaller pieces), garlic, salt, parsley, black pepper, and Italian cheese. Process until it forms bread crumbs. Add the eggs and water. Pulse just until it comes together. Place the bread mixture into a large bowl with the ground meat and mix until the meat and bread are fairly well mixed. Avoid over mixing, you will still see small clumps of bread. If you over mix the meatballs they will be tough.

Using a 1 tablespoon measure or a 1 tablespoon scoop measure out the meatballs. Roll the meatballs between your hands and place them on a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet with the meatballs into their preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 140°F.

While the meatballs are cooking, remove the biscuits from their package and dust a cutting board with flour. Press each biscuit dough round flat with your hand then roll it out to a four inch circle with a rolling pin or dowel. Keep the board and the rolling pin dusted with flour or the biscuit dough will stick to the board.

Let the meatballs cool for 10 minutes after you take them out of the oven.

Lay a rolled-out biscuit dough round on a flat surface. Brush water over the edge of the biscuit dough. You can make 1 of three variations at this point or some of each.

1 – Just place a meatball in the center of the dough

2 – Place a teaspoon of marinara sauce in the center of the dough then place the meat ball in the center.

3 – Place a teaspoon of mozzarella cheese in the center of the dough then place the meat ball in the center.

Raise the temperature of the oven to 400°F.

Fold two sides of the dough over the top of the meatball and crimp together about 2 inches of dough leaving the ends open (see photo). Fold up the remaining ends and crimp the remaining edges.

Place the filled dumplings on a cookie sheet and bake them for 8-10 minutes or until they are a golden brown. Check them after 8 minutes to make sure that they are not burning on the bottom.

Serve hot with extra marinara sauce.

* Pronto Substitutes

White Bread – Use a good quality white bread such as Arnold Country White.

Ground Meatloaf Mix – Many grocery stores now sell a ground meat mixture that contains beef, pork and veal. This really enhances the taste of the meatballs but you can easily substitute ground round (93%).

Meatballs – If you don’t want to make the meatballs you can buy frozen mini meatballs and cook them according to the package directions.

Fresh Bread vs. Breadcrumbs – Most meatball recipes you will find use breadcrumbs because it makes it easier. I use fresh bread mixed with water and egg to make a panada. This will make the meatball more tender and the risk of over mixing is minimized making a tender meatball.

To print a copy of this recipe go to Twice Baked Meatball Dumplings