Italian Meatballs

I think I’m mentioned before that I come from a long line of Italian’s who have owned their own restaurants. This is a modified version of the recipe my Father and Grandfather used at their restaurants. Their restaurants were called ‘Italian Village’ and were located in Benton Harbor, Michigan. They have been gone a long time now though, since before I was even born, but the recipes live on in my family, and people still talk about my Father’s meatballs and his Pizza! I guess that is where I got my love for cooking!

You Will Need;
1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup breadcrumbs or two pieces Italian Bread (Stale works best)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon fresh parsley or 1 & 1/2 tablespoons dried
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or three finely minced/grated garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 medium yellow onion, minced

Directions:
First you are going to want to pour the milk over the breadcrumbs or bread to soak. If using the bread, break it apart in the milk. Give it about five minutes to soak up some of the milk.

Mix all the spices & egg in a large bowl with a whisk.

Add in the meat, bread, and milk.

Use your bare hands for best results, and mix all the ingredients together, mix it just till everything is combined, don’t over mix or your meat will get tough and chewy.

Roll meatballs to about the size of a golf ball.

There are different ways to cook them, you can just drop raw meatballs into large (I use a stock pot) pot of sauce and let them simmer for about three hours, they pull in a lot of the sauce this way though, so make sure you make a lot if you cook them in the sauce. You can fry them in a skillet on the stove, or the way I usually cook them is in a 350 degree F oven, for about 35 minutes. I turn them a couple times during the cooking (say, every ten minutes) so they brown and crisp up all over.

I served these with a parmesan sauce and angel hair pasta, but you can use any pasta you want and any sauce really, or even serve them plain (which was the only way I would eat them as a kid!). They also make awesome meatball subs!!

Good Eats!

About these ads