Meatballs Anne Burnell
Best meatballs ever, I use pork sausage, beef and chicken or turkey for my 3 meats.
Best meatballs ever, I use pork sausage, beef and chicken or turkey for my 3 meats.
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 large eggs
- salt
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 2 large onions diced
- 1/2 pound ground veal
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1 large onion diced
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- red pepper flakes
- marinara sauce
- 2 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
- 1/4 pound pancetta diced
- 4 large garlic clove smashed and chopped
- 4 28 ounce cans san marzano tomatoes
- Carbohydrate 29.46724998566 g
- Cholesterol 249.626308692677 mg
- Fat 34.2688663492962 g
- Fiber 3.67010000746074 g
- Protein 35.7202467735636 g
- Saturated Fat 11.1500980469674 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (359g)
- Sodium 710.327855413516 mg
- Sugar 25.7971499781993 g
- Trans Fat 3.65181766240974 g
- Calories 573 calories
Step-by-step
- Coat a large saute pan with olive oil, add the onions and bring to a medium-high heat. Season the onions generously with salt and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes. The onions should be very soft and aromatic but have no color. Add the garlic and the crushed red pepper and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool.
- In a large bowl combine the meats, eggs, Parmigiano, parsley and bread crumbs. It works well to squish the mixture with your hands. Add the onion mixture and season generously with salt and squish some more. Add the water and do 1 final really good squish. The mixture should be quite wet. Test the seasoning of the mix by making a mini hamburger size patty and cooking it. The mixture should taste really good! If it doesn't it is probably missing salt. Add more. Add more anyway.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Shape the meat into desired size. Some people like 'em big some people like 'em small. I prefer meatballs slightly larger than a golf ball. Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through. If using right away, add them to your big pot of marinara sauce. If not using right away, they can be frozen for later use. Serve with pasta and sauce or just eat them straight out of the pot! YUM!
- Coat a large saucepot with olive oil and add the pancetta. Bring the pot to a medium-high heat and cook the pancetta for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions, season generously with salt and stir to coat with olive oil. Cook the onions for 6 to 7 minutes stirring frequently. The onions should become very soft and aromatic but have no color. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes stirring frequently.
- Pass the tomatoes through the food mill. Be sure to pass all of the pulp through the holes leaving only the stems and the seeds, and be sure to scrape the pulp off of the bottom of the food mill. That's all of the big money stuff! Add the tomatoes to the pot and rinse out 1 of the empty tomato cans with water and add that water to the pot (about 2 to 3 cups). Season generously with salt and TASTE IT!!!! Tomatoes take a lot of salt. Season in baby steps and taste every step of the way. Cook the sauce for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and tasting frequently.
- Use the sauce right away on pasta or for any other tomato sauce need. This sauce can also be cooled and stored in the refrigerator for a few days and freezes really well.
San Marzano tomatoes do the heaviest lifting in this preparation, demanding specific mechanical handling to build a proper base. Making these meatballs alongside their accompanying sauce requires careful management of kitchen hardware, particularly when dealing with large volumes of meat and high-acid tomatoes.
- Use a wide saute pan that allows the onions to spread in a single layer without overlapping, ensuring they soften within five to seven minutes without browning.
- A food mill is essential for processing the four 28-ounce cans of tomatoes; pushing the pulp through manually separates the seeds and stems while capturing every ounce of fruit.
- Cooking the marinara for two to three hours demands a heavy-bottomed pot to prevent scorching, as high-acid tomato reduction accelerates rapidly at a rolling simmer.
- Test the raw meat mixture by frying a small patty in oil before rolling the full batch, adjusting the salt upward if the flavor tastes flat.
- For smaller households, the entire raw meatball batch can be frozen on a cookie sheet for two hours before transferring to freezer bags, allowing you to cook single-portion quantities later.
Scaling this recipe up or down requires no changes to the cooking times, though smaller batches of marinara will thicken faster than the standard two-hour window. Proper equipment organization prevents crowding on the stovetop and ensures each component reaches its required temperature.
