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Meatballs

11K views 49 replies 23 participants last post by  koukouvagia 
#1 ·
Looking for a good, basic meatball recipe with perhaps some "skill" tips. In my stainless, mine always fall apart when browning.
 
#2 ·
This one is very basic:

2 pounds ground beef/pork/veal/chicken/.......
1 onion diced very fine
2 eggs
a good sized handful of oatmeal or bread crumbs or cracker crumbs
S&P

Very gently mix all together, scoop with a 2 ounce ice cream scoop. Pat together a bit if needed. Brown in a hot pan or the oven then add to the spaghetti sauce/mushroom gravy/whatever to finish cooking.
 
#3 ·
I don't do meatballs very often, so my results tend to be inconsistent - too dry, too dense, too soggy, too crumbly, it's alway something. My best results have been when mixing in some finely diced, high water content veggie like celery, bell pepper, onions. But not tomato, that didn't work too well.

The last batch I did with sweet onion and yellow bell pepper turned out well. My wife's sister is flying in friday, maybe a sketti and meatball dinner might be in order. Of course, that is days away, I'm sure I'll consider at least 17 different menus between now and then.

mjb.

 
#5 ·
If these are for an italian dinner, (i.e. not swedish meatballs for example) - i use crushed garlic and grated onion, finely chopped thyme, and equal quantities of breadcrumbs and grated parmigiano - add a little milk and egg and let these soak it up (don;t add more than to just wet it) and then the meat, salt, pepper. Actual PIECES of ANYTHING - chopped onion, and certainly peppers - will tend to break them up. t
Parmigiano sort of melts and glues a little.

If you have trouble making them stick together, I cook like this - i oil the pan, let it get hot, then roll them in one at a time (like bowling or bocce), so the outside rolls across teh pan, and that sort of oils the whole surface and keeps it round (i find they break if they sit for a while in one position, which they do if they flatten), and keep rolling the pan itself around so they're all in motion. Pry those that stick off immediately and turn. try to keep cooking all sides at the same time.

but definately don;t use chopped pieces of vegetable in them, or they'll break.

I think it might also work to form the balls and then refrigerate first, but i'm not sure. It works with potato croquettes or with lentil balls.
 
#6 ·
I ran into a similar problem with meat loaf - the loaf was a little too dry even though I used the same aromatics as you mentioned. It was suggested here to try sautéing the vegetables in a little fat (I've since used oil or butter, or a combination) and softening them up while adding a little moisture. It worked out well, and that's often what I do when making meat loaf or meat balls. What kind of meat are you using?

Spaghetti and meatballs may well be one of my favorite dishes ...
 
#7 ·
Yes, that's similar to what I do. Rolling the balls around seems to aid even browning, and maybe it also helps to keep the balls together. Never thought of that benefit. I don't have a problem using chopped veges, but they are really minced pretty fine and sautéd, so maybe the size and the sauté help hold things together. Plus I don't use very much vegetables - more for flavor than anything else.

Teamfat didn't mention using eggs, bread crumbs, or bread. Maybe that's part of his problem.
 
#8 ·
There are a few things I do to ensure fluffiness:

1. Grate lots of onion (not chopped)
2. Do not use breadcrumbs. Instead soak some fresh bread in milk, then wring out the milk and added the wet bread.
3. Add a pinch of baking soda and wine.
4. Do not overmix - I combine all the ingredients together and then add the ground meat.

My recipe
- 1lb ground beef
- 1lb ground pork
- 1 large onion
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 clove garlic
- handful fresh chopped parsley
- handful fresh chopped mint
- fresh bread soaked in milk
- baking soday and wine
- pinch of cumin
- salt/pepper

After mixing the ingredients I form the meatballs and then roll lightly on a thin layer of flour, and dust off so there is a very light coating. Place the ready formed meatballs on a cookie rack and allow to sit for atleast 15 minutes before cooking. It will almost seem as if the meatball drank the flour. Heat 1/2 inch of extra light olive oil in a skillet and fry your meatballs without overcrowding the pan. The bigger the meatball the lower the heat to ensure the inside gets cooked while not burning the outside.
 
#11 ·
Success! using Mapiva's recipe I did pretty good. I had too many for the stove top, so put some in baking dish and baked the rest with another sauce i had laying around and I'll eat em' on a meatball sandwich for lunch tomorrow.



(yeah, we usually eat in the living room, bad habit)

I cheated a little and used a non-stick



used a veal/pork/beef tri-meatloaf mix



what goes great with an american-italian-style spaghetti and meatballs?



p.s. the Sauce is BDL's "sugo for paisans" sauce....had some in the freezer.
 
#13 ·
In the future you may want to try to deep fry them to get them to set. I drop mine in the fryer for 20-30 sec and get them to form a "crust" then drop them in the sauce and finish there.
 
#14 ·
they were quite fluffy!

I like my meatballs almost black....the first "batch" were good, those went in the sauce...then i "experimented" with the rest, and got them perfect. I'm having them today on a sandwich.

A deep fryer would be nice, but it's a PITA at home sometimes with cleanup and such.
 
#15 ·
Wish I'd been well enough to participate in this thread earlier.

I like Map's recipe and methods. Here's some other thoughts:

You don't have to grate the onions or anything else for that matter. You do have to chop to fine dice or finer. Large pieces of food which absorb neither fat nor protein will weaken the aggregate -- just like rocks in cement.

If you saute the aromatics until they are soft before mixing them into the meat, the meat will hold together better. Soft food is absorbent. Use lots of fresh herbs.

Fresh breadcrumbs work better than dry, lightly soaked bread works best of all. Cooked rice works very well too, as do any number of fillers.

Do add cream, condensed milk, eggs, if you hear the call. Polpette are just tomato sauce specific meatloaf. Knock yourself out.

Meat mixtures, such as pork/beef, or pork/veal work better than all beef. Make sure your meat isn't too lean. Turkey is tricky.

The more you mix, the denser the meatball. A slightly dense (as opposed to a fluffy) meatball isn't necessarily a bad thing -- especially if there's pork in the mixture. In any case, mix by hand with wet hands. No spoon need apply.

Brown the meatballs in a pan, the same way you brown hamburgers. Don't turn until they're brown, and they'll hold together. As soon as they're browned on a couple of sides, put them in the oven. They don't need to be nor will they benefit from being browned all over.

BDL
 
#16 ·
Guess it's all about what one grows up with but the only ingredients that were ever in the Meatballs we had were meat (mixture of beef, pork and or veal and sometimes lamb.....) breadcrumbs, parsley, egg, s&p and Romano cheese.

Then again our Marinara, the sauce typically what meatballs was served with, only had tomatoes, onion, garlic and basil. Simple and easy. Like I just said, garlic and onions were only for the sauce and the only way green peppers hit the table was when they were fried as a side dish, stuffed or mixed with tomatoes and basil for sandwiches. Even my Irish Aunt didn't use them in meatballs.:look: IMHO most other ingredients impart flavors that take away from the sauce, pasta and even the meatball but...... to each their own. Like I said it's about what you grew up with and JMHO.

Anyhow, I know it's a little late but give this a try.

Ground Chuck (or meatloaf mix) but
nothing leaner than 80/20..................1lb
egg, beaten.....................................1ea
Breadcrumbs....................................1cu p
Chopped Fresh parsley.......................1/4cup
Grated Romano Cheese.......................1/2cup
S&P............................................... .To taste

Combine ingredients in mixing bowl and incorporate well. Add salt and pepper and cook off a small piece in a skillet to adjust seasoning. Form, by hand, into 2-2.5oz balls and cook on a sheet tray in 400deg preheated oven until just cooked and slightly crusty. Add to sauce immediately and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes or as an alternative.....
Place raw meatballs into a simmering pot of cooking sauce made with 3 parts marinara and 2 parts water. Simmer for 2 hours. This sauce can also be further reduced, after removing meatballs, for use on meatball sandwiches. :beer:
 
#17 ·
Here is a recipe I have used for years and I get requests all the time for it. I have made it for spaghetti and just as an appetizer.

1 pound ground chuck
4 ounces whole milk
4 ounces dried bread crumbs

6 ounces grated Romano
4 large eggs
2 ounces finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 ounces finely diced fresh garlic
3 ounces grated Spanish onion
2 ounces finely chopped fresh basil leaves


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. If contents seem a little loose or soft add more bread crumbs.
Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and roll in flour or just dust, just a very light coating, with a little olive oil in a pan brown for a minute or two and then place on baking sheet. Place into preheated oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!
 
#23 ·
Hi Oldschool,
yes, i agree, peppers are too much for me, either in the sauce or in the meatball. I see peppers as sides as well. They're very strong, and the sauce becomes a pepper sauce, which is fine, but is different, and to me also it takes away from the flavor of the meatballs and from the sauce.
but then, everyone has their own taste, and that's fine.
 
#24 ·
In banquet since its high volume we use a small a small ice cream scoop and scoop them on to a pre sprayed sheet pan. In oven @350 for 15-18 minutes fat drained off then put into 2 inch hotel pans filled with marinara. Sitting in the sauce makes the sauce better and the meatball better and tastier since it absorbs sauce.If a lot left on Sunday nights we drain off sauce and grind meat for a base for meatsauce.
 
#26 ·
As for cooking them, I find they're tastier and the sauce is tastier, if the meatballs are browned in the pan you will use for the sauce, set aside, and then the garlic and onion slowly sauteed in the fat, and then the pan deglazed with the tomato, or first with wine if you have some, till it's reduced, picking up all the sticky meat residue, but i rarely have wine hanging around for cooking. You don;t have to completely cook the meatballs, just slightly brown them, then when the sauce is going, put back into the sauce to finish cooking. Their juices flavor the sauce and the sauce flavors the meatballs.

I'm really curious where "spaghetti and meatballs" comes from, though. No one i ever met in italy who hasn't spent time abroad knows about the dish (served as we know it), or if they do, they know it as an american dish. Yet, i'm sure it must have been italians who brought it over - perhaps it's a very local dish typical of some town.

Here my mother in law usually makes meatballs like small meatloaves, about as big as a small orange but oblong, browns them in the pan and then adds wine or brandy. No tomato. Sometimes she makes them bigger and puts a whole hard-boiled egg inside, and then slices them to serve them. But always as a second course, always after the pasta course. For her it would be very strange indeed to serve the meat WITH the pasta, unless in a composite dish like timballo or lasagne, and there wouldn;t be much meat in it, since it would be followed in any case by a main dish.

She makes very tiny meatballs about as big as dimes or at most nickels in diameter, browns them and puts them in baked pasta dishes, typically "timballo di pasta" along with tomato sauce, hard boiled eggs, peas, tons of parmigiano and an egg to hold it all together so it can be baked, slightly cooled, then unmolded and sliced. (Personally i don;t like it, but it's very popular in central italy). In some regions they put tiny meatballs in lasagne. It would be only for a special sunday dinner or holiday. But i have never come across meatballs in sauce with spaghetti. Anyone who knows, I'd love to find out where they come from. It certainly is a very satisfying dish.
 
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