This is another recipe that I make every couple of months or so and freeze for future use. The meatballs are obviously delicious in spaghetti with meatballs but can also be used as post school snacks, slider or grinder fillings, protein in soup or stew, broken down i to a quick stir fry with a package of frozen vegetables... They are basically helpful to have on hand for those occasions when you want a good meal but you don't feel like cooking and only have the energy to raid the freezer.
I believe that a typical meat ratio for meatballs is 2 parts beef to 1 each of pork and veal but I prefer a less beef flavor driven meat ball and use 1 part of each. If you have difficulty locating ground veal in your local supermarket, look for what is labeled as "meatloaf meat". I loathe meatloaf and never make it but I was recently in a Massachusetts supermarket and the store assistant was kind enough to point me in that direction. Meatloaf meat at that supermarket was 1/3 each of the 3 ground meat for which I was looking,
Lastly, typical meatball recipes often use breadcrumbs as a binder but I find that this makes the meatballs too compact and sometimes a bit tough. I substitute Parmesan which ramps up flavor and keeps the meat balls juicy.
This makes about 30 meatballs; my preference being meatballs that are slightly larger than a golf ball.
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground veal
1 lb ground pork
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1/3 cup chopped basil
1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped (more if you like it)
1/3 white onion, peeled and finely diced (more if you like the taste)
1/4 tsp fennel seed, crushed
1/4 tsp herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning
Salt to taste
Measure all ingredients into a large bowl and mix together. I do all of this by hand, making sure that the herbs and alliums are evenly dispersed through the meat and that the 3 types of meat are amalgamated into one cohesive mix.
Form into meatballs. Do this gently and without making the meatballs too compact or they will be dense and tough when you cook them. You really want a light touch.
If freezing, placing all of the meatballs on a parchment paper lined baking tray and freeze for one hour. Remove from the baking tray and place in a hermetically sealed container and replace in the freezer. Freezing the meatballs this way means that you will be able to reach into your container and pull out individual meatballs as needed rather than ending up with one big, lumpy mess of meat that once was portioned into meatballs.
If cooking, add some oil to a skillet and, when oil starts to sizzle,add the meatballs and brown for 2 minutes on each side. You can then add it to tomato sauce and it will continue cooking in the sauce. If using on its own, lower heat and cook for about 4 additional minutes, turning from time to time.