Italian meat balls that were not so Italian.

[CharlieD]

I made spaghetti and meat balls for the first time yesterday. Not that I’ve never made meat balls before, but the idea was to make Italian meatballs. I don’t think they really turn out Italian, but I have to say they turn out to be very soft and very tasty. I bet my seasoning was off. But unlike all those times I had meatballs in Italian restaurant and hated them this time I like them a lot. Need to get my seasoning strait. What kind of seasoning do you use for Italian meatballs?

 

[Rom]

- fresh garlic, parsley, grated parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, eggs and a bit of salt, mix all together and then mix in the mince, i use lamb. my bf LOVES these and cannot eat enough

-i then lightly fry them in evoo before i put them in the sauce, just on the outside

 

[CharlieD]

Pretty much what I did, no cheese, can't mix meat and dairy products together. Otherwise that is what I did.

 

[Katie H]

I made spaghetti and meat balls for the first time yesterday. Not that I’ve never made meat balls before, but the idea was to make Italian meatballs. I don’t think they really turn out Italian, but I have to say they turn out to be very soft and very tasty. I bet my seasoning was off. But unlike all those times I had meatballs in Italian restaurant and hated them this time I like them a lot. Need to get my seasoning strait. What kind of seasoning do you use for Italian meatballs?

Charlie, I use garlic, parsley, oregano, and basil in my Italian meatballs. They turn out quite tasty.

 

[Rom]

u could always put onion?

 

[Caine]

Try letting them percolate in your sauce for about an hour. They'll pick up the flavor of the sauce.

 

[Rom]

what Caine said

I do...an hour or maybe a bit more in my garlic sauce, depending on the sauce itself and how much i made.

 

[qmax]

Mine:

1 lb ground pork
1 1/2 lb ground beef
6 oz prosciutto - diced
6 oz pancetta - diced
3 eggs
3 tbsp minced garlic
cup chopped parsely
cup breadcrumbs soaked in milk
1-2 TBSP Pimenton (spanish smoked paprika, this is absolutely the transcendental ingredient, use a bit less if you subsitute bacon for the pancetta because of the smoked nature of bacon)
Fresh ground pepper
Salt - careful with it the proscuitto and pancetta have a lot of salt.

Mix it well, form into 1 1/2 in balls.

Brown well, then dump in whatever sauce you made. Simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Absolutely the richest, deepest flavored meatballs you'll ever make (the pimenton adds a character that is amazing).

They are not the cheapest meatballs in the world, but everyone will rave.

 

[auntdot]

Charlie, I always make mine with pork, veal and beef, but obviously the pork is out, as is the Parmesan. When I cannot get pork, mix the veal and beef and it works just fine. As for seasonings, usually cheat. Just buy the Italian seasoning mix which usually includes basil, oregano, sage, marjoram. But the mix does vary.

Oh yeah, onions are a must. Can cheat with onion powder. Oh yeah, and garlic, there is always the debate around here about garlic. Always add it, the question is how much. But that is always a matter of debate, polite debate I will add, around here. The powder will work. Have made meatballs for many and sometimes in limited situations, so trust me the powders can be used for both onions and garlic. Or the flaked stuff, whatever yu can find.

Good luck.

 

[pippo90]

Sorry to break your Italian views on the meatballs but in Italy we don't have meatballs in out spaghetti

there is althought spaghetti with meat sauce which would be the closest thing to the sereotypical "meatballs", just an FYI Culture Shock, it is more of an Italo-American immigrant thing

and yes I was born and raised in Italy

let me know if you would like the recipe to the meat sauce dish, 'tis very good

 

[elaine l]

Pippo90, I would love your recipe!

For meatballs mine are pretty basic. Ground meat, breadcrumbs,egg, salt and pepper and a little dried basil. I agree with Caine...they go in the sauce and "percolate"

 

[auntdot]

Yep pippo, am aware that in Italy people don't generally make spaghetti with meatballs.

We often make spaghetti sauce with fresh pork that we cook by simmering in the sauce.

But heck, meatballs in spaghetti are also really good. If they are not authentic Italian, who cares? A lotta folks like them, and we are among them.

We both grew up in NYC in areas that had a large number of second generation Italians. And they served spaghetti with meatballs. They were our neighbors and our friends and authenticity was not an issue that I can recall.

In the US we eat a lot of dishes that carry names that have little to do with origiinal dish.

Perhaps our greatest international culinary affront could be the many Chinese restaurants that serve stuff that no person in China ever tasted (I was lucky enough to learn a bit about authentic Chinese cuisine in my early twenties, many thanks to the truly lovely Chinese people who taught me.) Fortunately the Chinese people do not seem to take affront, and many try to teach us how to enjoy the McCoy. God bless them.

Spaghetti with meatballs is a well entrenched dish in this county's culinary lexicon.

Maybe Charlie D would love your sauce, but maybe, given the chance, you would like the suff with meatballs.

 

[buckytom]

caine, agreed about the simmering in sauce idea. that's s.o.p. in my book.

i've found the meatballs (and other meats) pick up even more flavor from the sauce, as well as impart theirs to the sauce after letting it cool down and refrigerate for a day, then reheating it. one of those "better the second day" type of meals.

charlie, in a large bowl, my very italian-american meatballs contain :
3/4lb of 85% ground beef
1/4 lb of ground pork (sometimes i'll go all beef, at 80%)
1 to 2 eggs, depending on the size
then eyeing it, about 1/3rd of the volume so far in seasoned breadcrumbs, 1/3rd of the volume in grated locatelli, and 1/3 of the volume in dried parsley.
add a pinch of red pepper flakes, and gently work the ingredients together.
form into 2 " balls, fry in evoo to brown all sides but not cook through, then into the sauce they go.

edited to add: this recipe is a merging of recipes as taught to me by several different first generation italian americans, who learned it from their families.
they are:
2 (now retired) co-workers' recipes, when i asked them to ask their sicillian mothers; my first girlfriend's grandmother, who was born in calabria; an italian deli owner, recently emigrated from puglia; and finally my own mother's recipe, as she had learned from her friend, of naples and sicillian descent.

 

[pippo90]

Ya, I know. Just giving my two cents on the matter. I'll get the recipe up here. And maybe try the meatballs too.

 

[Rom]

I'd be interested in your recipe too

I make pasta a lot, wouldn't mind a different sauce lol

Pity i can never quite get it to taste like my mums

 

[CharlieD]

Pippo90 fire away, would like to see your recipe. have to agree on meat balls thing. 6 month that I spent in Italy and ate and quite a few (lucky me) Italian families, I never seen spaghetti with meatballs, rather it was always the sauce. But here in ameriKA it is all diferent, it is a new world after all.!

 

[CharlieD]

Reading all of the responces I came to conclusion, that maybe my meattballs were italian after all. It just that the only experience I've had in the past from Italian restaurants were not so good. Maybe I thought my meatballs will also be not good, but after all why should they be bad, right? Meatballs were very good wife and kids loveded. Next time I'm making my own sauce, was in a hurry this time, used Barrila.

 

[woodman]

What kind of seasoning do you use for Italian meatballs?

Hi CharliD,


I mix italian sausage with 80%-lean ground beef.

Johnsonville brand, Hot Italian Sausage, net wt, 1.24 lbs.

Ground beef should be one pound, but not more, and no leaner than 80%.

Instead of using salt, I season it with Adolf's Meat Tenderizer which has salt in it.

Break-up the sausage meat across about 2 square feet of surface, then break-up the ground beef to sprinkle over it. When this is done your meat should be well distributed which allows for easier mixing.

When the meat is broken-up like that, it gets warm, FAST, and this will ruin the color and make it harder to work with, so I find it convenient to distribute the meat in a pan lined with wax paper. I put the pan (with meat) in the freezer for 30 minutes to get extra cold, then take it out to add the spices.

Try sprinkling this with dry basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, and add a little grated parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Fresh crushed black pepper adds a lot of flavor.

Lightly sprinkle some garlic powder over the meat, then add a generous sprinkling of dried chopped onions.

I use a coffee bean grinder to powder anis & fennel seeds, then sprinkle some of them over the meat as well.

Add just a dash of paprika (regular, not smoked) and a light sprinkle of sugar (about 1/2 as much as the meat tenderizer).

mix about 1-1/4 cup of ice water and pour it over the meat & spices, then mix them all together.

The meat will absorb the water, and that's okay because the dry spices will suck water away from the meat.

Mix the meat thoroughly and allow to sit for a few hours in the freezer. This will allow spices to blend while keeping the meat nice & cold.

Make the balls slightly bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a baseball.

Should make between 10-11.

Bake @ 350 for 35-40 minutes.

You wont believe the smell. It's incredible. YUMMM!!!!!

Whenever I smell it cooking, I want to start drinking beer because I KNOW something tasty is coming up soon, so I usually sink 4-6 cans in the freezer an hour or two before I bake the meatballs.

I used to do sauce from scratch, but now I just buy Prego brand in a jar, ("Prego With Fresh Mushroom" variety), add a little thyme and simmer. Why go through all the work? Besides, I'll be drunk by the time the sauce needs to be cooked.



Sorry to read about your shoyu fiasco.
Not all soy sauces are alike. I learned the hard way, too.


Woodman

 

[CharlieD]

Thanks, besides baking, sausage and cheese I prettymuch did the same thing. I probably just did not give enough spices.

 

[woodman]

Thanks, besides baking, sausage and cheese I prettymuch did the same thing. I probably just did not give enough spices.

The ratio of beef to sausage is important.

The brand of sausage is also critical as I have no control of THAT factor, so if you go off and by "braintard" brand (instead of what I specified) and get awful tasting sausage, that's YOUR fault!

I try to be very specific because it is important to outcome, but with this recipe, I really never measure the spices. I just go by eye.

Be conservative to start, and I think that you will eventually (probably quickly) be able to adjust this to your own particular taste.