-- SICILIAN OLIVE TREE MEATBALLS --
Recipe adapted from 'Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn Cookbook'

Ingredients:

Meatballs;

2 lbs of lean ground beef

2 cups of Aunt Em's American Style CheeseCorn or Cheddar Ranch CheeseCorn if you like a little more of a spicy meatball

¼ cup of chopped parsley

2 Tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons of dried onion

1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon of garlic powder

½ teaspoon of black pepper

2 eggs

1 (10 oz) jar (drained) of stuffed, small green olives (for a less tart meat balls substitute pitted black olives)

Non-stick cooking spray

Sauce;

1 can (27 oz) of your favorite spaghetti sauce

2 Tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons Marsala wine (you can use a sweet sherry or port wine)

Directions:

* Pre heat oven to 350° F and coat a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

* Combine beef, Aunt Em's popcorn, parsley, Parmesan cheese, dried onion, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, pepper, and eggs into a large mixing bowl and mix well (go ahead and use your hands just like the pro's do).

* Use one Tablespoon of the meat mixture to form a meatball totally around each olive.

* Place meatballs on prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes (a little longer if you made your meatballs a little bigger).

* While the meatballs are basking in the heat of the oven, combine all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan.

* Simmer sauce for 10 minutes (if you planned everything out just right, you should be left with about 5 minutes before the meatballs are done to enjoy any left over wine).

* When the meatballs are done, transfer them into the saucepan for a through coating.

* Serve meatballs hot as an entry or with your favorite pasta.

Recipe makes about 80 small meatballs or 50 big meat boulders.

Additional popcorn dinner dishes

405 East First Street

Deer Creek IL 61733

Phone: (309) 447-6612

Fax: (309) 447-6613