One more tropical celebration of summer! ~ Luau Meatballs

I made one more tropical recipe to celebrate this beautiful summer! I am soaking up the sunshine and warm weather while we still have it. It has been an especially lovely summer here in Seattle.

The pineapple cocktail sticks are from Two’s Company. They were too cute to pass up when I saw them at the store. 🙂 I wanted to use them before the summer’s end. These cocktail sticks were actually the inspiration behind this pineapple recipe!

The adorable summer pineapple printable banner is from My Sister’s Suitcase. It is free to print for your personal use. 🙂 I hope you’ll go over to their website to check out all of the fun things they have posted.

Luau Meatballs

2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons minced shallot

2 green onions, minced

3 tablespoons minced cilantro

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 pound ground pork tenderloin

1 cup fresh pineapple juice

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

12 fresh pineapple pieces, for garnishing

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix the panko, shallot, green onions, cilantro, soy sauce, and salt. Add the pork and mix well. Form the mixture into about 12 meatballs. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the meatballs for about 12 minutes, or until they are just cooked through. Be careful not to over bake or your meatballs will be dry.

In a medium saucepan, bring the pineapple juice to a simmer. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar and cornstarch to make a slurry. Whisk the slurry into the simmering pineapple juice. Cook until thickened.

Dip each meatball in the pineapple sauce. Top with a piece of pineapple. Serve on a cocktail stick with extra sauce for dipping.