Favorite Meatballs Recipes

THE BEST MEATBALLS YOU'LL EVER HAVE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, croutons, sweet onion, egg, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, red pepper flakes, and Cajun seasoning. Form the mixture by hand into meatballs.
• Heat the olive oil and melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Place the meatballs in the skillet, and cook, turning constantly, 20 minutes, or to desired doneness.

EXCELLENT MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Coat a large saute pan with olive oil, add the onions and bring to a medium-high heat. Season the onions generously with salt and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes. The onions should be very soft and aromatic but have no color. Add the garlic and the crushed red pepper and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool.
• In a large bowl combine the meats, eggs, Parmigiano, parsley and bread crumbs. It works well to squish the mixture with your hands. Add the onion mixture and season generously with salt and squish some more. Add the water and do 1 final really good squish. The mixture should be quite wet. Test the seasoning of the mix by making a mini hamburger size patty and cooking it. The mixture should taste really good! If it doesn't it is probably missing salt. Add more. Add more anyway.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Shape the meat into desired size. Some people like 'em big some people like 'em small. I prefer meatballs slightly larger than a golf ball. Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through. If using right away, add them to your big pot of marinara sauce. If not using right away, they can be frozen for later use. Serve with pasta and sauce or just eat them straight out of the pot! YUM!
• Coat a large saucepot with olive oil and add the pancetta. Bring the pot to a medium-high heat and cook the pancetta for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions, season generously with salt and stir to coat with olive oil. Cook the onions for 6 to 7 minutes stirring frequently. The onions should become very soft and aromatic but have no color. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes stirring frequently.
• Pass the tomatoes through the food mill. Be sure to pass all of the pulp through the holes leaving only the stems and the seeds, and be sure to scrape the pulp off of the bottom of the food mill. That's all of the big money stuff! Add the tomatoes to the pot and rinse out 1 of the empty tomato cans with water and add that water to the pot (about 2 to 3 cups). Season generously with salt and TASTE IT!!!! Tomatoes take a lot of salt. Season in baby steps and taste every step of the way. Cook the sauce for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and tasting frequently.
• Use the sauce right away on pasta or for any other tomato sauce need. This sauce can also be cooled and stored in the refrigerator for a few days and freezes really well.
• Yield: 2 quarts

THE BEST MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400ºF.
• Line 2 (15x10x1-inch) pans with aluminum foil; spray with cooking spray. Mix ingredients just until blended; shape into 32 (1-1/2-inch) balls, using 1/4 cup for each.
• Place in prepared pans. Bake 16 to 18 min. or until done (160ºF).
• Combine half the meatballs with Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce or Creamy Brown Gravy. (See tips.) Cool remaining meatballs; freeze for later use.

THE BEST MEATBALLS EVER!

Steps:

• Place tomato sauce in large pot on the stove on medium heat.
• Soak crustless bread in medium bowl with the two cups of water about 2 minutes until bread is totally moistened; squeeze out excess water.
• In a large bowl combine bread and all other ingredients except water, mix well with hands until all are combined. Add water if needed.
• Transfer onto plastic wrap and flatten meat to about 1/4 inch (this is an easy method to make meatballs eaqual in size, but optional of course; score meat mixture into 2 inch squares, (like a checker board).
• Roll'em up and place them in sauce.
• Stew in sauce for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

THE BEST MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Combine beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl. Add garlic, eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.
• Blend bread crumbs into meat mixture. Slowly add the water 1/2 cup at a time. The mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape if rolled into meatballs. (I usually use about 1 1/4 cups of water). Shape into meatballs.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Fry meatballs in batches. When the meatball is very brown and slightly crisp remove from the heat and drain on a paper towel. (If your mixture is too wet, cover the meatballs while they are cooking so that they hold their shape better.)

FAVORITE MEATBALLS AND GRAVY

Steps:

• Combine meats, bread, onion, parsley, egg, salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and the pinch of nutmeg in medium bowl.
• Shape mixture into 1 inch balls, wetting hands as needed will help.
• Add half of the meatballs to lightly oiled or sprayed large skillet over medium heat. Cook until browned all over, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer meatballs to paper towel lined plate. Repeat until all meatballs are browned.
• Add beef and chicken broth to skillet and stir to deglaze, getting all the browned bits from the pan bottom. Return meatballs to skillet.
• Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer, 30 minutes.
• In a small bowl combine water and cornstarch, stir well to make a slurry.
• Add to meatballs and broth and bring to a gentle boil to thicken.
• Add remaining pepper, grated lemon peel and thyme and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Serve over mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, or steamed white rice.
• Makes 6 servings.
• Note: If your family really likes gravy you may want to double the ingredients for gravy only.