The Chief's Italian Meatballs

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Hi everyone. I volunteered to make a meal for one of our church families with a young mother whose husband was out on a Coast Guard Training exercise for a week. I chose to make orzo with homemaid marinara and meatballs. I ran into the husband at the credit union yesterday. He had some of the meatballs and told me that I need to give him the recipe. I wrote it up today, and will email it to him. He just went on and on about the meatballs. Me, I thought they were good, but not outrageously so. But then again, I've had some pretty bland meatballs. Maybe these were the first ones he had with real herbs and flavorings in them. In any, they were pretty good, and so I share with all of my friends here at DC. I give you...

The Chief's Italian Meatballs

The texture of meatballs range from mushy, to chewy, to sawdust. The final texture relies on the ratio of differing ingredients, and the cooking technique. With this recipe, we will use already made sweet Italian sausage, mixed with 80/20 ground beef, and a few other ingredients to give it great texture and flavor. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. Sweet Italian Sausage
1 lb. 80/20 Ground Beef
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried Oregano
1 tsp. dried Basil
1 tbs. Granulated Garlic
2 tsp. Granulated Onion Powder
1 large, raw egg
½ cup whole milk
½ cup Panko Breadcrumbs.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until well mixed. Remove about 2 tbs. of the meatball mixture and roll into a ball. Place the meatball onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Repeat until all of the meatball mixture is used up. Transfer the mixture into a hot frying pan that has a lid. Do not let the meatballs touch each other. Add two tbs. water to the pan and cover. Cook over medium heat for seven minutes. Remove the cover and brown meatballs brown slightly, turning every few minutes so as not to burn any side.

Continue this until all of the meatballs are made. Serve with Marinara sauce and your choice of pasta.


Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[CraigC]

Ever since I discovered Grandma Maronis meatballs, I don't use dried herbs and spices anymore. We find the results to be much better with fresh. However, I can see it is more convenient when making large batches.

 

[Cheryl J]

Sounds good to me, Chief. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Addie]

My mother used stale bread soaked in milk, wrung out. And so do I. Makes for more tender meatballs. There is an enzyme in the milk that tenderizes the meat. And they do need to be sautéed prior to placing in any pasta sauce. The crusted outside helps hold the meatballs together.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

That was a kind hearted thing to do for your neighbor, Chief. Plus he will learn a new way to make meatballs.

I like to add a handful of parmesan and a tsp or so of toasted fennel seeds, and sometimes a healthy pinch of chili pepper flakes. I also like to start out with about 2 lb burger and 3-4 sweet sausages crumbled, so I can cook and freeze a whole lot and just pull out as needed.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I think that every household has their own way/recipe for making meatballs.
I've adapted my own recipe from my 3 SIL's, all Italian, (I never got to meet my MIL) and funny thing, each of them does theirs a little differently.
But using fresh herbs rather than the dried, hmmm, CraigC, I'll need to try that once I have my garden going.
I do use fresh minced garlic and onion, along with ground veal.
My niece gave me a MeatBall Cookbook, it's great! Many different cultures have a type of minced meat in a ball/cylinder shape.

 

[medtran49]

I think that every household has their own way/recipe for making meatballs.
I've adapted my own recipe from my 3 SIL's, all Italian, (I never got to meet my MIL) and funny thing, each of them does theirs a little differently.
But using fresh herbs rather than the dried, hmmm, CraigC, I'll need to try that once I have my garden going.
I do use fresh minced garlic and onion, along with ground veal.
My niece gave me a MeatBall Cookbook, it's great! Many different cultures have a type of minced meat in a ball/cylinder shape.

They are lighter, not as dense if you use the fresh herbs. They use a lot though compared to dry. We usually end up buying fresh instead of pulling from our homegrown due to the volume needed.

 

[GotGarlic]

Mmmmm, sounds good, Chief. I love good meatballs

I like to bake them rather than sautéing them, though. Gives them a nice crust, doesn't mess up the stovetop, and I don't have to stand in front of the stove on my sore feet.

400°F for 20 minutes. Perfect.

 

[emmaline]

I use a recipe that my daughter gave me which is very simple and uses pork sausage meat and minced beef (ground beef I think you call it) in 1/2 and 1/2 measures with added bread crumbs, onion etc.



10 Ingredients

500g Beef Steak Mince
500g Pork Sausage Meat
20 g Onions
2 Eggs
70g Plain Flour
1 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup
18 ml Worcestshire Sauce
130g Bread Crumbs
1tsp Salt
4 g Pepper

(picture not very good)





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