Preheat the oven to 350F.

Coat a medium sized pan with the olive oil and add the onion. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently until the onions are softened and have little to no color.

Add the garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, for 1 more minute. Set aside this mixture to cool (you can just stick it in the fridge!) while you prepare the rest of the meatballs.

Combine all of the other ingredients except for the water (ground meat, eggs, cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, Italian seasoning) in a large bowl. Add the cooled onion mixture and squish it all together with your hands until a uniform mix has formed.

Pecorino is really salty cheese so I don't add additional salt, but if you are using Parmesan or just like things a little saltier, add about 1/4-1/2 tsp more salt and the 1/2 cup water. Squish the mixture together until all of the water has been incorporated.

The mixture will be very moist but should hold together well. Form 18-20 equal sized meatballs and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. The parchment paper will make clean up super easy, but if you don't have any, don't worry about it! you can use tin foil instead. You don't want to tightly pack the meatballs, so try to be as gentle as you can when you are forming the meatballs. If you notice that the meatballs aren't staying together too well, you can add a bit more breadcrumbs. I find that with some breadcrumbs that are very finely ground, I need to use closer to 1 cup.

Bake for 15 minutes and then use tongs to flip each meatball over. This will make sure you get a nice sear on each side. Bake for 7 more minutes, or until the meatballs are fully cooked through.

These taste amazing plain, so I always end up eating some straight out of the oven. Whoops! But you can also add to your favorite sauce. Make sure you scrape off all of the little browned bits from the parchment paper and add them to your meatballs. These little caramelized bits are the best part! Serve them topped with more cheese, on their own, or over some pasta! You can also freeze these meatballs for later use, they keep very well in the freezer.