Food Hussy Recipe: Smoked Meatballs with Historic BBQ

I have become quite obsessed with my friends at Historic BBQ. They initially provided me some free seasoning and sauces but all opinions are my own.  

Recently I was chatting with the owner John and he was telling me about making some smoked meatballs and I was IN LIKE FLYNN! 

Here's a rundown of the making of the meatballs and they were delicious! 

I've never smoked anything before so it was a bit of an adventure! But it was definitely worth the effort - the extra flavor the smoking adds was amazing!

First - I started out by roasting onions & peppers - just dice - top with oil and a little seasoning (salt/pepper) and bake them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Then I got everything together - by recommendation of Historic BBQ - Gruyere cheese, roasted peppers & onions, Historic BBQ Red or Black seasoning, Colonel Des Garlic Galore (cuz I love garlic) and ground pork.

For the smoking - I went with pecan chips - John said hickory or apple are fine as well. You can buy a decent sized bag of chips for under $2 at Wal-Mart so there's no excuse to not do it. I soaked the chips in water for 20 minutes and then made two small foil packets. I cut holes in the bottom of the packets so the flames can get inside to the chips. (i.e. foil is fine - no need to buy a wood chip holder)

I mixed all the meatball ingredients together and there might have been a little drool in there as well.

I rolled them into ginormous meatballs and got them ready for the grill! Go big or go home!

For the smoking - it's so simple - put the wood chip packets (holes down) over the flames. Then over the burners that are not turned on - you put the meatballs on. Shut the lid and smoke for 30-40 minutes until the internal temp of the meatballs is 150 degrees.
 

You've got to watch the video to see the finished smoked product - so drool worthy and the aroma was heavenly. You can use bbq sauce and have these on their own - but I chose to have them with marinara over angel hair pasta. So good.

I had some mushrooms left and used them in the sauce - I love mushrooms almost as much as meatballs. These were hearty, smoky meatballs and there was no eggs - so hubby can eat them too! The smoky scent was just perfection - and they were super pink from that smoke. It was so fun to try the smoking and I'll definitely be doing it again!

Bon Appetit!

Smoked Pork Meatballs 

* 1 pound ground pork
* roasted onions and peppers (1/2 onion, 1 pepper - diced - roast with olive oil & s/p for 20 min at 400)
* 2 Tablespoons Historic BBQ Red or Black seasoning
* 1 teaspoon Garlic salt
* 1 cup Gruyere cheese - grated
* Pecan wood chips for smoking

Instructions

* Heat grill to 375 degrees and take a foil pouch, put some wood chips in the foil pouch, poke some holes in the pouch, put pouch on grill over the heat

* Mix together all meatball ingredients and roll into large meatballs
* Place meatballs on indirect heat (not over the flame) on the grill and grill for 30-40 minutes around 375 until the internal temperature is 150
* Close the lid on the grill - it's important for the smoking. If the grill heat is too high, lower heat or prop lid open and inch or two so heat can escape somewhat