Meatball Recipe: The best I ever made, and I learned it from you.

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Chief Longwind Of The North

Certified/Certifiable
Joined
Aug 26, 2004
Messages
12,454
Location
USA,Michigan
I have learned much from the DC forums to expand my cullinary knowledge base. A couple nights back, I put together a bit of Goodweed know-how, coupled with some of those invaluable tips gleaned from these threads to make the best meatballs I've ever made, and possibly ever eaten.

First, the thought process. My daughter's Sister In Law loves soft meatballs. I wanted to invite her and my daughter over for a spaghetti dinner as the SIL had said she had been hungry for spaghetti for a while. And me, well, I love to cook for people who appreciate it, and show off a little.:rolleyes: So I thought about how I could make the perfect meatball, full of flavor, and with the perfect texture. I remembered info about using egg, breadcrumbs, milk, and egg to get great texture in meatloaf. Meatloaf and meatballs are very similar animals, with a few differences.

To add flavor, I chose to use 1 lb. bulk Itallian Sausage, plus 1/2 lb. ground beef. The other ingredients were spices, herbs, egg, milk, chopped onion, and bread crumbs. These were chosen to add flavor, and condition the mixture into the perfect texture. Here's the recipe and cooking technique:

Ingredients:
1 lb. bulk Itallian Sausage
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 large egg
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried sweet basil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients until thouroughly mixed. Form into 1 inch balls and carefully place into a heavy frying pan. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and place on medium heat. Cover and cook for ten minutes. Turn the meatballs and continue cooking for five more minutes. Remove the cover and cook until the liquid is evaporated from the pan. Remove the meatballs and add to your favorite marinara, or ragu sauce.

Of course you can alter the flavors, and even add things like Parmegano Regiano, or chunks of your favorite cheese to the mixture.

Add chopped green peppers and form into patties for Salisbury Steak. Use your imagination. Oh, and by the way, my Daughter's Sister In Law said they were by far the best meatballs she had ever eaten. And she had been braggin about the meatballs she had eaten at one of our locar Itallian Restaurants just the day before! Yup, you know it. I got a big head.:LOL: But I didn't let her know.

And what did I learn on DC that helped me? I learned that milk acts as a meat tenderizer and that it does wonderful things for meatloaf. I just used that knowledge for my meatloaf recipe, making an educated guess that it, couple with the bread and egg, would give me the perfect texture I was trying to achieve. And it did. So thanks everyone, for making me a star one more time.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Thanks Goodwind! I shall shamelessly steal your recipe for
the next Sketti Nite here.... which will be fairly soon.
LOVE to make spaghetti and meatballs!

Love to eat it more, hahahahah!
 
no cheese??????!!!!!!!

omg, you totally blew it, gw!

j/k. it sounds great. actually, i don't always make cheesey meatballs if i'm not sure that everyone who will eat them is lactose tolerant.

i like the idea of a little cayenne. gonna try it.

hey, that's what i learned from you today! :chef:
 
Great Work! I read a tip on here before about the milk. I might try it the next time I make some meatballs.

It feels good when people RAVE about something you made. yeee haaaaa
 
Those sound great! I've never tried sausage in my meatballs, always just used ground beef. I'm sure that must add a lot of flavor and some texture. Yum!
 
The meatloaf recipe I use uses milk ... never thought about it in meatballs though. Thanks Good Weed for the inspiration!
 
They sound awesome GW!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us! Milk is a must for my meatballs and my meatloaf - it really does add a silkiness to the mixture. I have also learned to replace some of the ground beef with some ground pork. I have never even thought of Italian sausage - :ohmy: - I can't even imagine what level that takes the meatballs to! I know what I'm having on Sunday (which will be the next chance I have to cook) - if I remember :blush:
 
Back
Top Bottom