TBC's Italian Meatballs
This is an adapted recipe from my family. It is the number one preferred way of preparing meatballs in our house. The veal really adds texture and flavor. If you cannot locate ground veal, use a beef/pork mix, about 60/40 beef to pork mix.
This is an adapted recipe from my family. It is the number one preferred way of preparing meatballs in our house. The veal really adds texture and flavor. If you cannot locate ground veal, use a beef/pork mix, about 60/40 beef to pork mix.
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1/2 pound ground veal
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1/4 cup 2% milk
- 1 pound ground beef not too lean
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated (i prefer freshly grated)
- 2 tablespoons fresh italian parsley finely chopped
- 2 cup bread crumbs italian seasoned (progresso or other)
- 1 cup water luke warm
- 1 dash salt to taste
- 1 dash black pepper to taste
- 1 tomato sauce recipe your choice or jarred
- Carbohydrate 91.6734862617642 g
- Cholesterol 254.876102044939 mg
- Fat 30.2349076671281 g
- Fiber 7.10716249782247 g
- Protein 54.8565734442028 g
- Saturated Fat 8.39182277909949 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (393g)
- Sodium 9766.93709000687 mg
- Sugar 84.5663237639418 g
- Trans Fat 3.35818370720509 g
- Calories 865 calories
Step-by-step
- Combine beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl.
- Add garlic, eggs, cheese, parsley, milk, salt and pepper.
- Blend bread crumbs into meat mixture. Slowly add the water 1/4 cup at a time. The mixture should be very moist but hold shape when rolled.
- I like to lay out some wax paper on a plate and roll up the meatballs and put a little bread crumb on the wax paper and roll them onto the plate, or just shape meatballs and set aside for frying
- By this time you need to have your tomato sauce going in a sauce pot or skillet large enough to hold sauce & meatballs.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Fry meatballs in batches. When the meatball is very brown and slightly crisp remove from the heat and drain on a paper towel.
- Once all the meatballs have been drained, lightly put them in the sauce pot, and let them soak for 30 - 60 minutes over very low heat.
- Plate & serve with fresh grated Romano cheese, or over a dish of pasta. Enjoy!
- Recipe should yield 16 - 24 Meatballs depending on how big you roll them :)
Ground veal provides the structural tenderness and subtle sweetness that defines classic southern Italian meatball composition. Historically, combining beef, pork, and veal created an optimal balance of fat content and protein structure, ensuring the finished spheres remained succulent rather than dense. When veal is unavailable, maintaining a strict ratio of sixty percent beef to forty percent pork preserves the necessary fat distribution required for proper frying.
The Science of Moisture and Binding
Incorporating lukewarm water into the bread crumb and meat mixture hydrates the starches gradually, preventing the protein strands from seizing up during the mixing phase. Adding liquid a quarter-cup at a time allows the baker to monitor plasticity visually; the raw mixture must retain its cylindrical form when rolled without cracking. Overworking the beef, veal, and pork proteins develops excess myosin, which toughens the final texture, so gentle incorporation using fingertips yields superior results.
Frying and Simmering Techniques
Shallow frying in olive oil creates a Maillard reaction crust that locks in internal moisture before the raw centers finish cooking. Browning the batches until they reach a deep mahogany hue introduces essential savory depth to the dish. Submerging the drained spheres into simmering tomato sauce for thirty to sixty minutes over very low heat allows the proteins to relax while absorbing the surrounding acidity and aromatics.
