Monday, March 24, 2008

Meatballs Meatballs Meatballs

I had been having a hankerin for really good meatballs for a few months, and I decided that the only way I would get what I wanted was to make them myself. I had no experience with meatballs but I had a rough idea of how they should be made, so I sort of just went for it. Here's what I used:

1/3 pound each of ground beef (22% fat), pork and veal.
about 3/4 a cup of Italian bread crumbs
about half a finely chopped white onion
about 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
a bit of chopped parsley (this was probably unnecessary and I will skip it next time)
1 egg
Salt & Pepper

I mixed this all by hand and formed 8 rather large meatballs, which I then browned in the cast iron skillet with some olive oil.

While the meat was browning, I started my sauce which consisted of:

1 can of whole tomatoes
1 can of crushed tomatoes
Half of a finely chopped, white onion, sauteed in olive oil
2 cloves of chopped garlic
Salt & Pepper
Freshly chopped basil

The sauce has to simmer for an hour, and the meat took 20 minutes to brown. When the meatballs were sufficiently browned I plopped them into the sauce the for the remaining 40 minutes.

I have to say, these came out as good as any I have had in a restaurant. I ate this meal for two days straight and still have some in the freezer. I might tweak things a bit here or there, but I think I have found my meatball recipe. 


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