These meatballs are delicious - tender and juicy and flavorful (if I do say so myself). The recipe makes 12 large meatballs but I would suggest doubling or tripling the recipe if you have freezer space and keeping a bag of them on hand for future on the fly spaghetti and meatball dinners or weekend sub sandwiches. I add garlic to the cooking oil rather than directly to the meat mixture because I do not like the flavor that garlic takes on when it has been frozen.
And, of course, though the meatballs must be heartily browned in a large skillet, they must finish cooking directly in the tomato sauce that you intend to serve them with or they will not have the depth of flavor that they should.
1 1/2 lbs best groud beef you can find (no lower than 20% lean)
1/2 lb best ground pork you can find
1 cup freshly ground parmesan
1/2 cup finely chopped basil leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1/2 a medium white onion, peeled and finely diced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsps olive oil
Put the garlic cloves and olive oil in a lare skillet. Set aside.
Mix the remaining ingredients together in a bowl. I use my hands rather than a spoon but, either way, combine them gently.
Again using a light touch, rather than pressing the meat into compact balls, form the meat mixture into 12 equal sized balls.
Heat the oil and garlic cloves over medium heat until the oil is shimmering. Working in batches, cook the meatballs until they are brown on all sides, about 5 minutes .
Remove the meatballs to a plate. Lower the heat under the pan.
Add 3 cups of tomato sauce to the pan. Stir well to combine with the pan juices, scraping up all the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the meatballs back to the sauce and cook until the sauce is bubbling away happily and the meatballs are cooked through.
To serve, remove the meatballs from the sauce with tongs. Stir your cooked spaghetti into the sauce so that the noodles are coated with sauce and then tip the noodles into your serving dish or onto 4 plates. Top with the meatballs, additional grated Parmesan and some finely chopped basil leaves.
Comentários