Big Green Egg Grilled Ricotta Bacon & Parmesan Stuffed Meatballs

Fire up the grill and thrill your tastebuds with these over-the-top cheesy stuffed meatballs filled with parmesan, ricotta, green onions, and bacon! Don’t forget to smother them in bacon cream sauce too!

This is one of those dishes that is a combination of 3 other recipes. I took bits and parts of the below recipes to create something pretty freaking magical (and utterly addictive!).

The OG recipes

1. I took my Mozzarella Stuffed Italian Meatball recipe but omitted the mozzarella sticks. I also added chopped bacon and shredded cheddar to the meat.
2. I then took my Whipped Parmesan Peppercorn Ricotta Spread recipe, omitted the cream added bacon, cheddar cheese, green onions, garlic chives, and more parmesan
3. Lastly, I took my Potato Gnocchi in a Bacon Cream Sauce recipe and only made the bacon cream sauce. However, you could add these meatballs with the gnocchi!

Make the Cheesy Filling

This Whipped Parmesan Peppercorn Ricotta spread/dip is something I always have made in my fridge. It’s something we all love and is a great thing to jazz up any charcuterie board!

Once this was all whipped up, I added another 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, 3 slices of minced crispy bacon, 2 Tablespoons of chopped garlic chives, 1 cup of shredded cheddar, and 3 green onions.

When mixed, it should be very thick and something when you use a small cookie scoop, it holds together snugly/tightly.

Make the Meatballs

As I said, I used my Mozzarella Stuffed Meatball recipe but with some swaps

I didn’t stuff the meatballs with mozzarella sticks. I used the rest of the recipe except I added 3 slices of crispy bacon to the meatball mixture and about 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar. Just mix up the meatball mixture and let’s get ready to stuff!

Stuffing the Meatballs

1. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop some meat, make a well, and, using a small cookie scoop, scoop the cheese filling.
2. Place the filling in the middle of the meat and seal to close. Shape snugly. Place on a parchment-lined pan and once all the meatballs are shaped, cover and chill for one hour.

Light up the Big Green Egg

Meet Prometheus, my BGE! I so LOVE this grill!  Grilling is so relaxing and sorry fellas, girls can rock the grill as well. Women in grilling is HUGE, just like women in pizza!

1. Light up the grill and preheat to 375F.

Let’s grill up these meatballs!

1. Add a 10-12″ cast iron pan to the grate and drizzle in carefully about 1 – 1 1/2 Tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Once the oil starts to smoke you’ll want to add in your meatballs.

3. Using heat-safe tongs, carefully add your meatballs to the pan. Do not crowd them. If you have to cook them in batches, chill the ones that are waiting to be cooked.

4. Close the lid and cook for about 5 minutes and carefully turn. If it doesn’t move, don’t force it as you’ll tear the meatball open.

5. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side until cooked fully through.
6. If you have more to grill up, transfer the cooked ones to a dish and tent with foil to keep warm.
7. If your grill is running too hot, move the pan to indirect heat OR add the EGGspander set to your Big Green Egg and raise up the pan.

Make the Bacon Cream Sauce

So this honestly was an afterthought as the meatballs on their own are outstanding but I was wondering how folks could or would eat it as a meal or even as a snack.  As I was cleaning my kitchen I saw the bacon drippings in the pan and the lightbulb went off.

BACON CREAM SAUCE!!!

The only change I made to the recipe was to start with a roux (equal parts fat and flour). Once I had a roux made up of butter, bacon drippings, and flour, I slowly added in the cream (though you could use 1/2 and 1/2), parmesan cheese, black pepper, salt, and some parsley. I had a green onion finely chopped so I used that too.

This dish blew me away and I’ve served it so many ways this past week or so:

• Served over angel hair pasta
• “smashed” over crostini
• Chopped up meatballs in the sauce and used as a dip for bread
• New style Meatball sub
• As-is. Seriously these are amazing!

Stovetop/Oven Directions

If you do not have a grill, you can still make these on the stovetop to sear them and then finish them in the oven.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. To a large cast iron or oven-safe skillet over medium heat, add the oil. Once the oil starts to shimmer, add the meatballs. Do not crowd them.
3. Sear on all sides (about 1-2 minutes). Do not force them to flip. They will release from the pan when they are ready. Once they are seared, pop the pan with the meatballs in the oven to finish cooking. The internal temp should be 160F.

Alternatively, you can skip the stovetop and bake these fully in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the internal temp is 160F.

Cheesy Ricotta Bacon & Parmesan Stuffed Meatballs on the Big Green Egg

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Fire up the grill and thrill your tastebuds with these over-the-top cheesy stuffed meatballs filled with parmesan, ricotta, green onions, and bacon! Don’t forget to smother them in bacon cream sauce too!

• Author: TKWAdmin
• Prep Time: 20
• Cook Time: 20
• Total Time: 40
• Category: grilling, meatballs, cheesy, appetzers
• Method: grilling
• Cuisine: grilling, meatballs, cheesy, appetzers

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 2 XL eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 slices stale white bread, crusts removed and torn
• 3 1/4 ounces grated Parmesan
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1 1/2 tablespoon ground garlic
• 1 1/4 tablespoon onion powder
• 3 slices crispy bacon, minced
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar

Cheesy Filling

• 1 cup whole milk ricotta
• Heaping 1/3 cup grated Parmesan plus another 1/4 cup
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons peppercorns (pink/black/rainbow), crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4–1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 slices crispy bacon, minced
• 2 Tablespoons chopped garlic chives
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 3 green onions, minced

Bacon Cream Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 4 Tablespoons bacon drippings
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream or half and half
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 tsp parsley

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Instructions

Meatballs

1. In a bowl add the bread and the milk, press down to soak the bread and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes, strain the bread from the milk and place the wet bread in a bowl with the rest of the meatball ingredients  If there is any milk left, discard it. Since you’re stuffing these meatballs with a moist mixture, there’s no need for the milk.

Cheesy Filling

1. To a food processor, add in the ricotta, 1/3cup Parmesan cheese, salt, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and crushed peppercorns. Process until smooth and combined.
2. Remove to a bowl and add in the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, bacon, garlic chives, cheddar, and green onions. Mix to combine.
3. When mixed, it should be very thick and something when you use a small cookie scoop, it holds together snug/tightly.

Stuff the Meatballs

1. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop some meat, make a well, and, using a small cookie scoop, scoop the cheese filling.
2. Place the filling in the middle of the meat and seal to close. Shape snugly. Place on a parchment-lined pan and once all the meatballs are shaped, cover and chill for one hour.

Let’s Make BGE Grillin’ Magic!

1. Light up the grill and preheat to 375F. Once at temperature, add a 10-12″ cast iron pan to the grate and drizzle in carefully about 1 – 1 1/2 Tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Once the oil starts to smoke you’ll want to add in your meatballs. Using heat-safe tongs, carefully add your meatballs to the pan. Do not crowd them. If you have to cook them in batches, chill the ones that are waiting to be cooked.
3. Close the lid and cook for about 5 minutes and carefully turn. If it doesn’t move, don’t force it as you’ll tear the meatball open. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side until cooked fully through.
4. If you have more to grill up, transfer the cooked ones to a dish and tent with foil to keep warm.
5. If your grill is running too hot, move the pan to indirect heat OR add the EGGspander set to your Big Green Egg and raise up the pan.
6. Plate and tent with foil loosely if there are more to cook. If desired, serve with bacon cream sauce.

Bacon Cream Sauce

1. To a hot skillet add the butter and bacon drippings. Add in the flour and whisk to combine. Cook for 3 minutes, whisking occasionally.
2. Slowly add in the cream, whisking constantly. Once it’s all in, let it cook for 5 minutes or until it starts to thicken. Be sure to whisk and scrape the bottom. Add in the cheese, salt, pepper, green onion, and parsley.  Cook until the mixture coats the back of the spoon.
3. Taste for seasoning. If desired, add 3/4 teaspoon of garlic powder (I like it however Mr. Fantabulous didn’t like the garlic addition).

Notes

Nutrition does not include bacon cream sauce as that’s optional to add.

You can make the meatballs bigger or smaller. You might have extra cheesy filling. That is totally OK. This is amazing on toast or in baked potatoes!

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