I love making Italian food, it's hard not to love it. I've recently experimented with making fresh pasta and cheese and I've always made several different sauces. Every good Italian cook makes there name within their circle with their meatballs. I'm not claiming to be a chef by any stretch of the imagination, but I really do like my meatball recipe.
Meatball recipes are handed down from generation to generation and very closely guarded. I don't get to cook for friends or family very often, so I've decided there really isn't a need to keep my recipe a secret. I have no children to pass it down to, so I'm going to share it with this group.
The meatball can be added to almost any pasta and sauce combination in Italian cooking that doesn't have seafood in it or a bunch of meat already (although, does extra meat ever hurt?). I really love them with just a basic pasta pomodoro or even with fettuccine alfredo. I'm sure those recipes will appear in other blogs once I figure out what my recipe has in it. I do have a habit of making things from scratch, knowing what the ingredients are, but not the proportions.
In addition to the traditional use of meatballs on pasta, they can be used in a few other ways. The first is to simply eat them as a side with some sauce on them. The other way I like to use them is on sandwiches. The meatballs I make are about the size of a racquetball so I have to cut them in half to fit a sandwich. Simply use a hoagie style bun with some tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Meatballs go well with almost any white Italian cheese. You can even slice them and put them on pizza or in a calzone.
Recipe:
1 lb. Ground Pork
1 lb. Ground Veal
1 lb. Ground Chuck
1 small can of tomato paste
1 to 1 1/2 cups of Italian seasoned bread crumbs*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of cold water (give or take to control moisture level)
1/4 cup of shredded parmesan (parmigiano reggiano)
*if you don't have seasoned bread crumbs, use regular bread crumbs with about a 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano, basil and granulated garlic.
Meatball recipes are handed down from generation to generation and very closely guarded. I don't get to cook for friends or family very often, so I've decided there really isn't a need to keep my recipe a secret. I have no children to pass it down to, so I'm going to share it with this group.
The meatball can be added to almost any pasta and sauce combination in Italian cooking that doesn't have seafood in it or a bunch of meat already (although, does extra meat ever hurt?). I really love them with just a basic pasta pomodoro or even with fettuccine alfredo. I'm sure those recipes will appear in other blogs once I figure out what my recipe has in it. I do have a habit of making things from scratch, knowing what the ingredients are, but not the proportions.
In addition to the traditional use of meatballs on pasta, they can be used in a few other ways. The first is to simply eat them as a side with some sauce on them. The other way I like to use them is on sandwiches. The meatballs I make are about the size of a racquetball so I have to cut them in half to fit a sandwich. Simply use a hoagie style bun with some tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Meatballs go well with almost any white Italian cheese. You can even slice them and put them on pizza or in a calzone.
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| Spaghetti Pomodoro, 3 meatballs and some Parm...mmmm |
Recipe:
1 lb. Ground Pork
1 lb. Ground Veal
1 lb. Ground Chuck
1 small can of tomato paste
1 to 1 1/2 cups of Italian seasoned bread crumbs*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of cold water (give or take to control moisture level)
1/4 cup of shredded parmesan (parmigiano reggiano)
*if you don't have seasoned bread crumbs, use regular bread crumbs with about a 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano, basil and granulated garlic.
- Mix all of the ingredients together completely, you'll have to use your hands, so take the bling off.
- Bake racquetball sized meatballs in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour in a pan with sides (meatballs will give off some oil in the baking process, so don't use a cookie sheet)
- That's it!
Makes 18 to 24 good sized meatballs.
Top Secret Info: This is also my meatloaf recipe, but add a cup of instant rice to the mix and cover the loaf with a can of tomato sauce cut with a half can of water.
This sounds alot like I used to make meatballs so I'm thinkin' it might be handed down without you knowing it ! The pasta and meatballs look awesome. I love your idea of the the meatball sub, used to be my favorite at subway. I love meatballs too, actually pasta of most any kind.
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