I have always loved Italian food...be it the classical dishes from the boot or the many Italian-American version of dishes almost all of us grew up with. When living in Arizona there was a great Italian restaurant just around the corner from our apartment that had a special deal every Monday and Tuesday on spaghetti and meatballs. I have experimented with many recipes trying to replicate the flavor of their meatballs and the following recipe is the one that I believe to be the best of the bunch.
This recipe uses a mixture of beef, pork and veal....the last being the magic ingredient that gives the flavor notes that always seemed to be missing in any other recipe that I tried.
After mixing and forming the meatballs into the desired size you want to brown them on all size in a little bit of olive oil
After you have them all browned you want to let them simmer in your favorite pasta sauce for about 45 minutes
Then you are left with a batch of great tasting meatballs that you can decide how to use them...on spaghetti, a great meatball sub, or even just eaten alone covered with some sauce
Here is the recipe.....
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1/2 pound ground veal
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 4 cloves of minced garlic
- 1/4 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- salt and pepper
Mix all of that into a bowl and form into meatballs of desired size. I use a disher so that I get a uniform size for even cooking.
Heat up a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 cup of olive oil to the pan.
Brown the meatballs on all sides, you are just browning them and not cooking all the way through
Add browned meatballs to a dutch oven or sauce pot over medium low heat with enough pasta sauce to cover and let them simmer for about 45 minutes.
**For those in the Janesville area the only place I have been able to find fresh ground veal is at Festival Foods. Sorg's Meat Market on Hwy 14 between Janesville and Darien carries frozen packages of ground veal that also work well
