Meatballs

When I imagine quintessential meatballs, this is what I'm thinking of. I've made various different recipes for meatballs over the years, but this is THE ONE. It's the easiest, and most straightforward. It is not the most authentic. This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen. She says in her intro that italians don't eat meatballs with spaghetti, which was a surprise to hear. She recommends cooking them in a skillet, and then once they are cooked, adding mozzarella to the top with breadcrumbs and grated parmesan, and then placing them under the grill to get melty. She serves this with garlic bread, and smooshes the meatballs into the bread to eat. The tomato sauce here is very simple, but it's easy to jazz it up if you want to.

Ingredients

  • 500g mince (I use a mix of veal and pork)
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2 tblsp finely chopped parsley
  • 2 tblsp finely grated Parmesan
  • 2 tsps flakey salt (1 for the meatballs and 1 for the sauce)
  • black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed (1 for the meatballs and 1 for the sauce)
  • 2 tblsp olive oil
  • 2 400g tins of crushed tomatoes

Optional

  • garlic bread
  • sliced mozzarella
  • grated parmesan
  • panko breadcrumbs
  • chopped parsley

Method

  1. In a bowl, mix the mince, breadcrumbs, milk, parsley, parmesan, 1 tsp salt, grated black pepper, onion powder, eggs, and 1 clove of crushed garlic. Wet your hands and form the mixture into balls. Arrange on a cutting board or plate. Place them in the fridge for as long as you can - up to one hour.

  2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining clove of crushed garlic, just for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and the remaining teaspoon of salt. Let the sauce simmer gently for 20 mins, stirring occasionally.

  3. Turn the heat down until it is barely simmering. Add the meatballs to the sauce. Cover with a lid and DO NOT TOUCH them for 20 minutes. Cook for a total of 25 mins. If serving with spaghetti, this is when you'd get on with cooking the pasta and grating some extra parmesan and chopping some parsley to sprinkle on top. If serving with garlic bread, this is when you'd put it in the oven.

  1. If serving as suggested in the introduction, preheat the grill. Scatter the mozzarella on top of the meatballs, then sprinkle over the panko and parmesan. Drizzle with olive oil and place under the grill. Keep and eye on it, and when it looks melty and is starting to brown and bubble, pull it out and serve with garlic bread. Scatter over some chopped parsley.

References

Perlman, Deb (23 Feb 2016). Everyday meatballs. Smitten Kitchen. https://smittenkitchen.com/2016/02/everyday-meatballs/

Tags

  • Recipe
  • Dinner
  • Easy