Try this Incredible Italian Meatballs recipe, or contribute your own.
- salt and pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 cup small torn pieces of soft gluten-free white bread
- 1/2 cup finely grated onion + juices
- 1-1/4 lb 85/15 ground beef
- 24 oz jar gluten-free marinara sauce (i love bove's)
- 1 lb gluten-free spaghetti
- Carbohydrate 0.55170000031443 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 1.30929000002696 g
- Fiber 0.116399997896212 g
- Protein 0.14358000013646 g
- Saturated Fat 0.1795362000007 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (94g)
- Sodium 16.3219145860845 mg
- Sugar 0.435300002418218 g
- Trans Fat 0.0385752000037127 g
- Calories 14 calories
Step-by-step
- Mix white bread and grated onion in a large bowl then let soak for a minute. Add egg, garlic, dried parsley, salt, and pepper then mix to combine. Crumble ground beef over mixture then use hands to mix until just combined. Shape into golf ball-sized meatballs (about 18-20) then place onto a plate.
- Add enough extra virgin olive oil to cover the bottom of a large, heavy-bottomed skillet (at least 10") then preheat over medium/medium-high heat (6/10 on the heat scale.) Add half the meatballs then saute until evenly browned on all sides but not completely cooked through, carefully turning the meatballs with tongs or a spoon as they will be very soft. Transfer browned meatballs to a plate. Brown second batch of meatballs then gently add the first batch back into the skillet. Remove skillet from heat to cool down for a minute.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season with salt, add pasta, and then cook according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, carefully pour marinara sauce into the skillet then use a spoon to gently coat all the meatballs in the sauce. Return skillet to the burner then turn heat down to medium-low and simmer until meatballs are cooked through, 15-20 minutes, basting and gently turning meatballs over in the sauce with a spoon every so often. If meatballs are taking too long to cook (meaning they didn't cook enough during the browning process,) place a lid or crimp a piece of foil on top of the skillet then simmer until cooked through. Drain pasta then serve with meatballs and sauce.
Soaking soft bread pieces in grated onion juices creates a hydration barrier called a panade, which prevents proteins in the 85/15 ground beef from tightening too aggressively during cooking. Combining these elements requires minimal hand movement; overworking the mixture breaks down the fat distribution, leading to dense, rubbery spheres instead of tender textures. Grating the onion rather than dicing it ensures the moisture integrates uniformly throughout the meat without producing distinct pieces that compromise structural integrity during the shaping phase.
Preheating a heavy-bottomed skillet over a medium-high setting—specifically around a six out of ten on standard burner scales—generates the Maillard reaction necessary for savory exterior crusts. Olive oil must coat the entire bottom surface to prevent sticking, but the oil should not smoke violently before the first batch enters the pan. Turning the meat requires gentle maneuvering with tongs or a spoon because raw beef emulsions lack initial firmness until the surface proteins coagulate fully.
Simmering the browned meatballs directly in marinara sauce for fifteen to twenty minutes completes the internal cooking process while infusing the tomatoes with rendered beef fats. Covering the skillet with a lid traps steam if the center temperature lags behind exterior reduction rates. Basting periodically distributes surface oils evenly across the sauce layer, preventing scorching along the edges of the pan.
Boiling the accompanying pasta in heavily salted water concurrently ensures everything finishes simultaneously without temperature drops. Draining the spaghetti immediately prior to combining it with the sauce maximizes surface starch retention, which helps the liquid adhere to the strands rather than pooling at the bottom of the serving dish.
