Pernil Meatballs

These pork meatballs are seasoned with the flavors of pernil, the roasted pork I grew up eating in Puerto Rico. This recipe makes enough to feed two with leftovers for one. If you are more just double up accordingly.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon allspice

Zest from 2 oranges

Zest from 1 lime

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup caramelized onions, cooked & cooled

Preheat oven to 400°

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. You want to make sure everrything is combined but not overmixed. I like to sprinkle everything over the meat as opposed to just dumping it one place. That way you give the mixing a head start. 

Shape the mixture into small-medium meatballs. An ideal size is 1 ounce. I like to weigh one out to get an idea of what that looks like but you don't have to if that sounds annoying or you don't have a scale. Whatever the size try to keep them all about the same size so they cook evenly.

You want to bake these on a sheet tray lined with foil. It will make the cleanup easier later. Bake them until their internal temperature is 145° and the outside looks toasty and brown.