So me and djm were talking about meatballs on the St. Patrick's thread, but since they're not Irish, I'm starting this. I had said " I can't tell you how many recipes/techniques I've tried. I'm looking for something tender but that doesn't fall apart. I've deep fried, baked, pan fried, cooked only in sauce. Used different meat blends, bread, panko, grated cheese, raw and cooked onions. Today I'm trying a recipe from Milk Street for large Neapolitan meatballs with a good deal of bread in them. We'll see :)"
So I made the Neapolitan meatballs and sauce tonight. Loved it. I think it's now my go-to meatball recipe. I understand that not everyone is looking for the same thing in a meatball as I am. Anyway, here's the recipe.
Ingredients
4 TABLESPOONS EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, DIVIDED, PLUS MORE TO SERVE
1 LARGE YELLOW ONION, FINELY CHOPPED
KOSHER SALT AND GROUND BLACK PEPPER
6 MEDIUM GARLIC CLOVES, FINELY GRATED
11/2 TEASPOONS RED PEPPER FLAKES, DIVIDED
61/2 OUNCES (21/2 CUPS) PANKO BREADCRUMBS (OR 3 1/4 CUPS BREAD)
3 OUNCES PECORINO ROMANO CHEESE, 2 OUNCES FINELY GRATED (1 CUP), 1 OUNCE AS A CHUNK, PLUS MORE GRATED, TO SERVE
1 LARGE EGG, PLUS 1 LARGE EGG YOLK, BEATEN TOGETHER
11/2 POUNDS 90 PERCENT LEAN GROUND BEEF
2 28-OUNCE CANS WHOLE PEELED TOMATOES
6-8 LARGE BASIL LEAVES
Directions
Heat the oven to 475°F with a rack in the middle position. Line a rimmed baking sheet with kitchen parchment and mist with cooking spray. In a large Dutch oven over medium-high, heat 2 tablespoons oil until shimmering. Add the onion and ½ teaspoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and 1 teaspoon pepper flakes; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove the pot from the heat, then transfer half of the onion mixture to a large bowl.
In a medium bowl, combine the panko and 1¼ cups water; press the panko into the water and let stand until fully softened, about 5 minutes. Mash with your hands to a smooth paste, then add to the bowl with the onion mixture. Using a fork, mix until well combined and smooth. Stir in the grated cheese, beaten eggs, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, 1½ teaspoons salt and 2 teaspoons black pepper. Add the meat and mix with your hands until completely homogenous.
Using a ½-cup dry measuring cup, divide the mixture into 8 portions. Using your hands, shape each into a compact ball and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them evenly apart. Refrigerate uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes. Re-shape the meatballs if they have flattened slightly, then bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet set on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
While the meatballs cook, in a food processor or blender, puree the tomatoes one can at a time with their juices until smooth, about 30 seconds, transferring the puree to a large bowl. Return the Dutch oven to medium and heat the remaining onion mixture, stirring, until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, remaining ½ teaspoon pepper flakes, the basil and the chunk of cheese. Bring to a simmer over medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Using a large spoon, carefully transfer the meatballs to the sauce, then, using 2 spoons, turn each to coat. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce to medium-low, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for about 5 minutes to allow the meatballs to firm up slightly. Remove and discard the pecorino chunk. Serve with additional grated cheese.
Tip: Don't be shy about mixing the panko-meat mixture with your hands. It takes a few minutes to work the mixture together until homogeneous. Your hands are the best tools for this. Don't bake the meatballs without first allowing them to chill for 15 to 20 minutes; this helps them hold their shape. And after baking, make sure to let the meatballs rest for about 10 minutes before adding them to the sauce; if the timing is off and the sauce is ready before the meatballs have rested, simply remove the pot from the heat and let it wait.
The bread you use will affect the moistness of the mix. I used a cheap white bread and cut off just the straight line crust. My mix seemed a little too wet for me, so I added 1/4 panko and another 4 oz. beef. I used a 1/2 cup measure for the meatballs, but it gave me 11, so I added a little to 8 meatballs and turned it into 9.
Meatballs:
3 lb ground beef short rib (or 80/20 ground beef)
2 pounds ground pork butt
1 cup grated parmesan (or pecorino)
4 slices white bread crust removed soaked in milk
4 eggs beaten with a quarter cup of water
salt and pepper
8 cloves of garlic (minced)
half a medium onion (small dice)
one small carrot grated
1 cup chopped fresh parsley (flat leaf)
To Taste Salt & Pepper
half cup breadcrumbs (or more if needed)
Heat a little olive oil, and saute the onion, garlic & grated carrot, just until they cook through, then let cool before adding to the meat mix.
Combine the beef & pork in a large bowl.
Add the parmesan, beaten egg, bread that has been soaked in milk, and squeezed dry, sauteed vegetables & chopped fresh parsley.
Season to taste with a little salt & pepper
Mix gently trying not to squeeze the mixture too much with your hands. Add breadcrumbs, and check the consistency. You don’t want them too loose, if they won’t hold together, add more breadcrumb until they do. I like to brown mine in a little oil, but you can bake them off in the oven if you’d like. Brown them up, & put them in the…. GRAVY!
Let them simmer for a couple of hours. Pass the Italian bread.
Meatballs:
3 lb ground beef short rib (or 80/20 ground beef)
2 pounds ground pork butt
1 cup grated parmesan (or pecorino)
4 slices white bread crust removed soaked in milk
4 eggs beaten with a quarter cup of water
salt and pepper
8 cloves of garlic (minced)
half a medium onion (small dice)
one small carrot grated
1 cup chopped fresh parsley (flat leaf)
To Taste Salt & Pepper
half cup breadcrumbs (or more if needed)
Heat a little olive oil, and saute the onion, garlic & grated carrot, just until they cook through, then let cool before adding to the meat mix.
Combine the beef & pork in a large bowl.
Add the parmesan, beaten egg, bread that has been soaked in milk, and squeezed dry, sauteed vegetables & chopped fresh parsley.
Season to taste with a little salt & pepper
Mix gently trying not to squeeze the mixture too much with your hands. Add breadcrumbs, and check the consistency. You don’t want them too loose, if they won’t hold together, add more breadcrumb until they do. I like to brown mine in a little oil, but you can bake them off in the oven if you’d like. Brown them up, & put them in the…. GRAVY!
Let them simmer for a couple of hours. Pass the Italian bread.
Thanks for joining us :). I would never doubt any recipe you posted, so I'll give it a try, probably halving the recipe. Question- do you ever grind meat in a food processor instead of using a regular grinding machine or attachment? Do you think it works the meat or heats it up too much?
Put your wet mixture together separate with your favorite seasonings, pecorino romano, eggs, either panko or italian seasoned breadcrumbs work fine. We add some beef broth and olive oil into mixture. Add little bit of very finely chopped onion and garlic. Work mixture together with meat by hand, not too much as meatballs won't be tender. Make them slightly bigger than golf balls.
Put on prepared sheet pan and let sit out for a bit or in the fridge for about 30 min. When ready to bake add a little more beef broth into bottom of pan and put into to a 400 degree oven to brown for about 30 minutes or so. Remove from oven and let sit again for up to 30 minutes.
Then add to your already prepared gravy and let them merry together for at least an hour or so.
The gravy needs to be a whole other thread...
Put your wet mixture together separate with your favorite seasonings, pecorino romano, eggs, either panko or italian seasoned breadcrumbs work fine. We add some beef broth and olive oil into mixture. Add little bit of very finely chopped onion and garlic. Work mixture together with meat by hand, not too much as meatballs won't be tender. Make them slightly bigger than golf balls.
Put on prepared sheet pan and let sit out for a bit or in the fridge for about 30 min. When ready to bake add a little more beef broth into bottom of pan and put into to a 400 degree oven to brown for about 30 minutes or so. Remove from oven and let sit again for up to 30 minutes.
Then add to your already prepared gravy and let them merry together for at least an hour or so.
The gravy needs to be a whole other thread...
Thanks, Jimmy. Looks like we've got some "gravy" advocates on this thread :) But as you said, whole other thread, whole other fight, lol
And always love when Clemenza shows Michael how to cook for like 20 guys. He swiftly makes his gravy and then he "shoves in" all his meats.
Not that he is any great chef, but he gets a lot of the best lines in the movie...
What i like to do is use a mini muffin pan and spray it with olive oil and bake fliping them over halfway through then into the sauce along with some slice up sausage
Quote:
Here's my recipe. Yes, I really do bring my own meat, or I buy it from a butcher who grinds it themselves. {I don't know about anyone else, but whenever I eat ground meat from a supermarket, I never really feel right afterwards)
Meatballs:
3 lb ground beef short rib (or 80/20 ground beef)
2 pounds ground pork butt
1 cup grated parmesan (or pecorino)
4 slices white bread crust removed soaked in milk
4 eggs beaten with a quarter cup of water
salt and pepper
8 cloves of garlic (minced)
half a medium onion (small dice)
one small carrot grated
1 cup chopped fresh parsley (flat leaf)
To Taste Salt & Pepper
half cup breadcrumbs (or more if needed)
Heat a little olive oil, and saute the onion, garlic & grated carrot, just until they cook through, then let cool before adding to the meat mix.
Combine the beef & pork in a large bowl.
Add the parmesan, beaten egg, bread that has been soaked in milk, and squeezed dry, sauteed vegetables & chopped fresh parsley.
Season to taste with a little salt & pepper
Mix gently trying not to squeeze the mixture too much with your hands. Add breadcrumbs, and check the consistency. You don’t want them too loose, if they won’t hold together, add more breadcrumb until they do. I like to brown mine in a little oil, but you can bake them off in the oven if you’d like. Brown them up, & put them in the…. GRAVY!
Let them simmer for a couple of hours. Pass the Italian bread.
Thanks for joining us :). I would never doubt any recipe you posted, so I'll give it a try, probably halving the recipe. Question- do you ever grind meat in a food processor instead of using a regular grinding machine or attachment? Do you think it works the meat or heats it up too much?
Just realized that I spelled 'grind' wrong, and it corrected to 'bring'.
I use the meat grinder attachment on the Kitchenaid mixer. I just make sure that the meat is very cold. I usually cut it in small cubes, and the put it in the freezer for a while. It helps to put the attachment in the freezer as well.
Thank you.
I use the meat grinder attachment on the Kitchenaid mixer. I just make sure that the meat is very cold. I usually cut it in small cubes, and the put it in the freezer for a while. It helps to put the attachment in the freezer as well.
Drew, I've got a chest freezer in the garage. I think that if I emptied it I could just about fit inside with my chicken and Kitchenaid. That would solve everything
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9mf3Bypyk8 - ( New Window )
I'm sorry, but meatballs do matter
- Use GOOD parm. None of the store brand crap. A great cheese, like Locatelle, makes a huge difference.
Other tips from decades of work on this:
- Instead of raw garlic, I use a clove each of raw and roasted garlic. Sweetens and takes a bit of the bite out.
- Don't fry more than a dozen at a time. Depending on the ground meat, sometimes more water gets released into the oil than you want and the meatballs wind up boiling in *blown head gasket* looking oily water rather than frying. Change the oil out between batches if that happens.
- Deglaze the pan after frying the balls with wine or even tomato paste and dump that in the sauce UNLESS it's nasty. Frying/Deglazing can produce heaven or hell, if it's liquid carbon, throw it out!
- Half hour in the sauce before serving is plenty. If you go longer than that, you risk rubbery meatballs.
Haha! No need for my recipe here, plenty of great ones to choose from. Now, if someone wants to talk bracciole, well, that's a horse of a different color!
Actually, talking about meatballs, the absolute best I've ever had were from Janko's Little Zagreb in Bloomington, Indiana. SPICY! I would do anything to get the recipe. Does anyone have a good Hungarian/Croatian meatball recipe? And I'm serious if you're ever in Bloomington, you have to try these. The only drawback is the portion is GIGANTIC and it's supposed to be an "appetizer" for their monster steaks and potatoes.
Janko's - ( New Window )
We used to have a facility in Bloomington and we thought we had found a little gem hidden there when we went to dinner one time. Made it a mainstay every time we were out there.
Come to find out, a LOT of people knew it as a great restaurant. The meatballs are fantastic. I used to get the rib eye, but we'd almost always get 1 or 2 orders of meatballs for apps
We used to have a facility in Bloomington and we thought we had found a little gem hidden there when we went to dinner one time. Made it a mainstay every time we were out there.
Come to find out, a LOT of people knew it as a great restaurant. The meatballs are fantastic. I used to get the rib eye, but we'd almost always get 1 or 2 orders of meatballs for apps
I was in Bloomington for work at NSWC Crane about once a month for several years. I went often, and I also used to get the Rib Eye. We'd normally split a meatball app, and I'd always take some back to the hotel. There were lots of good spots in Bloomington in the late 2000s/early 10s. Haven't been back since 2015 or so
One time, he finally decides he's going to get the hot dog as an app. He orders it and the waiter looks at him. Looks around the table. Looks down. Then says. "Is there a kid hiding somewhere?". My co-worker says "No. I'd just like to order it". The waiter says to him. "It's on the kid's menu. Find a kid. Rent a kid. Pay a kid here to order it and take it from him. But you, Mr. Adult cannot order it"
And the next time we were in there, we had a different waiter and he said "And don't even think about ordering the hot dog!"
One time, he finally decides he's going to get the hot dog as an app. He orders it and the waiter looks at him. Looks around the table. Looks down. Then says. "Is there a kid hiding somewhere?". My co-worker says "No. I'd just like to order it". The waiter says to him. "It's on the kid's menu. Find a kid. Rent a kid. Pay a kid here to order it and take it from him. But you, Mr. Adult cannot order it"
And the next time we were in there, we had a different waiter and he said "And don't even think about ordering the hot dog!"
Lol I can see that! They *hated* when someone tried to special order or change things up...and God forbid someone order a steak anything grilled more than medium rare. Ooof.
Ha!
Ha!
rib eye is a cut that I think suffers if it is too rare -- you need to crystalize/render the fat a little more in my opinion - medium is more to my taste with that cut
about the Bill Murray Movie?
It just doesn't matter. - ( New Window )
about the Bill Murray Movie?
Yeah, the first poster. I guess you didn't start there :)
Quote:
about the Bill Murray Movie?
Yeah, the first poster. I guess you didn't start there :)
lol - sorry Bill I started with the thread title. : )
But, I did go back and read the 1st 3 posts. My bad .... : )
Quote:
In comment 15165081 short lease said:
Quote:
about the Bill Murray Movie?
Yeah, the first poster. I guess you didn't start there :)
lol - sorry Bill I started with the thread title. : )
But, I did go back and read the 1st 3 posts. My bad .... : )
No problem at all :) I start lots of longer threads at the end. Funny, the movie never occurred to me when I wrote the thread title or I would have been more careful. I won't start a thread in the future with "Godfather" if I'm thinking of pizza.
If you have the ratios of meat, panade, egg and any other liquids dialed in right meatballs DON'T toughen by prolonged cooking in liquid, not in my experience.
not really, lol. I can enjoy almost any kind of pizza. I don't buy much chain pizza. In Utah I did some Papa Murphy's bake at home. Since Covid, tho, I've pretty much just been making my own. Made a margherita the other day with no-cook sauce, some fresh mozzarella that was getting old, and fresh basil. I also don't have very good taste in wine. While I enjoy some better ones, my usual daily one is 3 buck Chuck. But, shhhh, that's just between you and me
That's why I drink a bottle of Chuck before I go out for dinner :) Plus, you fail to mention that Chuck would easily be jacked up to $9-10 in a restuarant.
So what's your ideal serving temp? In a restaurant, would the meatballs be kept in the sauce or held elsewhere until ordered? I'd love to have some of the restaurant guys do a thread some day on restaurant methods and tricks of the trade.
Not here. But 3 buck Chuck used to be 2 buck Chuck. I would never drink that shit. When it was 2 bucks, I was living in Utah and Trader Joe's couldn't sell wine there
You made me thirsty. I just poured myself a Dixie cup full. Oops, forgot my straw.
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In comment 15165108 Bill in UT said:
Quote:
In comment 15165081 short lease said:
Quote:
about the Bill Murray Movie?
Yeah, the first poster. I guess you didn't start there :)
lol - sorry Bill I started with the thread title. : )
But, I did go back and read the 1st 3 posts. My bad .... : )
No problem at all :) I start lots of longer threads at the end. Funny, the movie never occurred to me when I wrote the thread title or I would have been more careful. I won't start a thread in the future with "Godfather" if I'm thinking of pizza.
+1