Recipes

[hovis]

We are having a famiy reunion in a couple of weeks. And we are having a meatballs cook off. i always make turkey meatballs for my husband and myself. I need a good italian meatball recipe. And a sauce recipe. In my  husbands family it's called gravy. Thanks.

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[Pook]

@hovis  My grandmother was from northern Italy and she made the best meatballs.  While I just doctor up a light tomato basil sauce with lots of Italian seasoning and put grated parm cheese after simmering for a half hour, Iuse her meatball recipe.   Mix ground beef ,pork and ground pepperoni with one egg per pound of meat, some of the sauce and add bread crumbs until firm enough and always bake them.   

[walker]

I am not Italian, or expert on meatballs, but this is an easy recipe I copied from Italian cook along with her sauce (have not tried).  Sometimes I double the meatball recipe using ground beef and ground Italian sausage.

Italian Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef (80/20)

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

2/3 cup bread crumbs 

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

1 tablespoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  With your hands, combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Form into balls using rounded tablespoons.  Place meatballs in a 9x13" pan.  Bake 20-25 minutes.  Makes about 18 meatballs.

Marinara Sauce

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 red onion, diced

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 cups chicken broth, red wine or white wine

28 ozs. crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons blend of fresh fast-leaf parsley, oregano and basil, chopped

1/4 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper, to taste

Heat large pan (med-hi), add butter and olive oil; sauté onions 3-4 minutes.  Add dry herbs, garlic and cook a few minutes.  Then add tomato paste, stir and cook 1 minute.

Add chicken broth or wine, reduce to half of the liquid.  Add tomatoes and brown sugar, bring to a boil.  Then turn to simmer.  Stir in fresh herbs and heavy cream.  Keep warm until ready to serve.

[cindyNC]

I use Fabio Viviani's meatball recipe and cook them in the slow cooker with jarred sauce. Easily found online. It's my goto recipe and I also freeze them. 

[house_cat]

I've tried many meatball recipes and always seem to come back to the simple ones my mom used to make.  It really can't get easier:

1 pound ground beef

1 egg 

1/4 cup milk

2 cups Progresso Italian style bread crumbs

The ratio is always 1 egg to 1 pound ground beef, but the other measurements are estimates.  Use your judgement.

I brown them with just a minimum of olive oil in my large Le Creuset Dutch oven, remove them temporarily while I start the sauce (gravy) in the same pot, then add the meatballs back to simmer with the sauce.  I have no recipe for my sauce.  I've made it at least 1,000 times and it's probably never been exactly the same twice.

[grandma r]

Ground beef, pork, and veal mixture.  Only use stale Italian bread, not premade bread crumbs.  Moisten your stale bread, then shread.  Use eggs based on how much meat is being used.  Use Romano, Parmesan, and Locatelli cheese.  Use other seasonings to taste.  I either fry or bake meatballs depending on time.  Sorry, I don't measure;  my grandmother's recipe is my base and I go by feel and taste.

Gravy:  start with Tuttorosa Tomato Paste and add other ingredients to taste.  If you're really ambitious you can use fresh tomatoes.  Cook them do down, skin will fall off, then you need to strain the seeds.  Then add your paste and go from there.

Sorry I don't have actual amounts.  It just all depends on how much I'm making and how much time I have.

Good luck!

[sunshine45]

consider using panko crumbs instead of bread crumbs....they are a bit lighter and are wonderful in meatballs. i also like adding a bit of parmesan cheese to the meatball.

i also prefer using a mix of beef/pork/veal OR beef and italian sausage.....sweet or spicy for making meatballs or meat sauce.

love using fresh tomatoes this time of the year for the sauce......the whole tomato, even the skin. i use a hand blender to crush the tomatoes.

[Danielle46]

Look up Rao’s  meatballs and sauce.  They are the famous Italian Restaurant in NYC.  Everyone  loves their food.  You can find the recipe online.

[panda1234]

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@cindyNC wrote:

I use Fabio Viviani's meatball recipe and cook them in the slow cooker with jarred sauce. Easily found online. It's my goto recipe and I also freeze them. 

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@cindyNC When you said you used jarred sauce I wanted to share my tip regarding that. I rinse my jar with about 1/4 cup of red wine and add that to my sauce, gives it a nice flavor.

[sunshine45]

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@panda1234 wrote:

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@cindyNC wrote:

I use Fabio Viviani's meatball recipe and cook them in the slow cooker with jarred sauce. Easily found online. It's my goto recipe and I also freeze them. 

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@cindyNC When you said you used jarred sauce I wanted to share my tip regarding that. I rinse my jar with about 1/4 cup of red wine and add that to my sauce, gives it a nice flavor.

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even better.......deglaze the pan that you fry the meatballs in with the red wine. it  also adds so much flavor to the sauce, especially when it picks up those "yummy bits" at the bottom of the pan.