The Perfect Italian Meatballs Food

CHEF JOHN'S ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
• Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onions in hot oil until translucent, about 20 minutes.
• Mix beef and pork together in a large bowl. Stir onions, bread crumb mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian herb seasoning, and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.
• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Using wet hands, form meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Arrange onto prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

THE PERFECT ITALIAN MEATBALL

Steps:

• Place all above ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix thoroughly by hand until they are completely combined and the mixture is uniformly firm. Coat your hands in olive oil, and using your hands form mixture into 3-4 oz. balls Drop the meatballs into Fabio's tomato sauce (see recipe here) and add some water so that the sauce can reduce and simmer. Let cook for about 10 minutes on one side. Turn them over, add some more water and cook for another 10 minutes, covering in the sauce with a spoon as they simmer. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley, salt and pepper, more shaved parmegiano reggiano and a drizzle of olive oil, of course! Sauce: Smash 6 cloves of garlic with the back of a knife. Over medium heat, cook garlic in 3 Tbsp. of EVOO until golden brown. Add tomatoes and generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until thick (about 8 to 10 minutes) and is no longer watery in consistency. Add 3 more Tbsp. more of EVOO, turn to higher heat. Crush tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook until the oil turns red. This will tell you the sauce is done! Cook's Note: The sauce is very versatile and can be used with any pasta; added to meats, fish, vegetables; or topped on toasted crostini, breads, pizza crusts.

ADDICTING ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Beat the egg in a small bowl.
• Blend in the wine and tomato paste and set aside.
• Place the ground beef and italian sausage in a large bowl and blend with your hands.
• Add the bread crumbs and dry ingredients.
• Slowly blend in the egg mixture with the hamburger mixture until it is mixed well.
• If it is too dry, add more tomato paste or wine.
• Shape into 2 to 3 inch meatballs.
• Place meatballs on a baking sheet.
• Bake in a preheated oven 400 degrees for 20 minutes, turn meatballs at 10 minutes.
• Add them to your tomato sauce (see Simple Tomato Sauce Recipe) and cook approximately 30 minutes or longer for more flavor.

PERFECTLY SEASONED ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In larger sized mixing bowl mix together milk and eggs.
• Break bread in pieces and soak in milk-egg mixture until bread falls apart and it becomes a fairly well mixed consistency.
• Add in seasoning packets and all optional seasoning. Stir until well incorporated.
• Take off all rings and jewelry and add ground meat to mixture. Use your hands to mix until all ingredients are well blended.
• Mix in parmesan cheese.
• Allow mixture to rest for about 15 minutes. This gives it a chance to firm up so it will be easier to work with.
• Form into balls that are between the size of a walnut and an apricot, they will be soft so be gentle.
• Place on cookie sheets and try to space out enough that they don't touch once on the pan. I do 20 to 30 per pan depending on how much of a hurry I am inches.
• Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. If I feel vigilant I broil them for about 5 minutes right at the end. If you skip that step they are still tasty.
• Pull out of oven and cool on the pan or drain on paper towels if you so desire.
• Eat them as appetizers or add to your favorite pasta dish.
• NOTE: If this is a larger batch than you plan to eat you can freeze extras for later use. One other option is to roll out as many as you want and use the rest of the mixture to make meat loaf. Put meat mixture in a loaf pan and bake it at 350 for an hour. Drain excess fat off when you pull pan out of the oven and then allow to cool completely in the pans before slicing.

PERFECT MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Grate the onion, set aside (will include a lot of juice, or water).
• Mince the garlic very finely, put the salt and olive oil onto it, and with the back end of a chef's knife, work the garlic into a paste.
• ** Alternative, or if you don't know how to do this, just mince the garlic and onions as finely as you can.
• In a large bowl, add the meat, onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, parm cheese, basil, pesto, 3 tbsp olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
• Mix by hand just to combine - do not work it too much.
• Form into balls between the size of a golf ball and a large egg, not working the meat too much. Make as much as you can, about 11-12 and put on a plate.
• Heat the 4 tbsp olive oil on high heat in a saute pan.
• Brown the meatballs on all sides, about 2-3 minutes per side.
• Place the already prepared pomodoro sauce in a crock pot, or a large pot on the stove, and carefully add the meatballs.
• Cook for at least 3 hours on low (I cook mine for around 6 hours in a crock pot), stirring occasionally.