Every now and then you need a meatball fix.
And every now and then you just want the comfort of spaghetti and meatballs.
With a winter storm about to hit, it seemed like the perfect time to whip up a batch of my favorite classic meatballs.
This recipe on the Food52 site from Rao’s had to be pretty much the standard. It makes about 24 meatballs.
Classic Meatballs
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground veal
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
- 1/2 small clove garlic, peeled and minced
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- Olive oil, for cooking, about 1 cup
Combine beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl. Add the eggs, cheese, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Using your hands, blend ingredients together. Blend bread crumbs into meat mixture. Slowly add water, 1 cup at a time, until the mixture is quite moist. Shape into 2 ½” balls.
Heat about 1/4″ oil in a large sauté pan. When oil is very hot but not smoking, fry meatballs in batches. When the bottom half of the meatball is very brown and slightly crisp, turn and cook top half. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.
After browning them, if you want to cook them in sauce, use your favorite sauce and add the meatballs into the simmering sauce and cook for 15 minutes. Serve alone or with pasta and enjoy!
My verdict:
About as good as they get!
It’s going to seem weird to be adding water when you’re making them, but it does get absorbed and the meatballs always come out great!
The amount of olive oil you’ll need will depend on the size of your pan and be sure not to crowd the meatballs or they’ll never brown. Better off to do them in batches.
What’s your go-to meatball recipe?
