Once again, it's been quite a while since we've posted. Time for one of Allie's favorite foods (besides pasta): meatballs!
This is my own recipe for meatballs. Normally, I just eyeball the seasonings, but this recipe is a good place to start. For the seasonings, personally, I'd use no less than what's listed below, and you can definitely use more. I've made these meatballs quite a few times, and they're always good. If you don't want to use a recipe, here's my usual approach in flavoring them:
- Put a pound of ground meat in a large mixing bowl.
- Take out every Italian herb you have in your spice cabinet (oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, etc.) and coat the meat in each of them.
- Add the rest of the ingredients.
There's one thing about this recipe that's different than other recipes that I've seen/used—the panade. Panade is just a mixture of bread and milk. Without it, your meatballs can easily become dense and dry. With it, they're consistently soft, moist, and delicious. Sure, it's possible to to create soft, moist meatballs without it, but it takes a bit more care in cook time.
Sizing is a problem that I used to have when I made my meatballs too. My first meatball would be the size of a golf ball, and they'd just get progressively bigger and bigger until I was making peach-sized meatballs . . . not good. Bad for presentation, bad for consistent cook times . . . just not good. To fix this, now I use a medium cookie scoop, so all of my meatballs are consistently the same size.
Putting cheese in the meatballs is also a delicious detail. A lot of people put cheese on top of their meatballs, so why not inside too? It's also great to change up the meat once in a while for a little bit of variety: you can use pork, lamb, beef, chicken, or a combination of a few. I've used combos of pork and beef, and the results are just as great.
Finally, I've found that the best way to mix these is to knead them by hand (with clean hands!). I know some people might be turned off by kneading meat, but it's really the easiest way to mix the meat consistently.
Enjoy!
Homemade Meatballs
Makes: about 20 small meatballs
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 slices white bread
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
16 oz ground meat (whatever your favorite type is, around 85% lean)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 oz pecorino romano or grana padano cheese, freshly grated
½-1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry basil
1 tsp dry parsley
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry thyme
Extra virgin olive oil
Your favorite sauce
1. Sauté the onions in the butter.
2. Combine the white bread and milk in a food processor. Process until smooth to make panade. Note: the amount of milk you need depends on the bread you use, so add the milk slowly. You'll know it's done when it's the consistency of a thick yogurt.
3. Combine the onions, panade, egg, meat, cheese, and seasonings in a large mixing bowl. Knead by hand to incorporate all of the ingredients.
4. Heat up olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Form balls about 2 inches in diameter, then sear meatballs on all sides. Reduce to medium heat.
5. Pour enough sauce into the pan to cover the meatballs. Bring to a light simmer then cook, rotating occasionally, until done. Keep warm until ready to serve.