Friday, October 15, 2010

Spaghetti and Meatballs


I recently posted a delicious 3 ingredient Spaghetti Sauce that has received really good reviews from folks. I was asked if I could provide a meatball recipe to go along with it, and I thought, of course I can. Naturally I had to make it first, so I've been enjoying this dish for several days. Hope you like it.

One thing about meatballs, I don't like meatballs that are hard, or tough, or overcooked etc. Usually this comes about by rough handling when shaping, or frying or baking first before adding to a sauce. The secret to delicious melt in your mouth meatballs is to treat it gently and to cook the meatballs in the sauce, not pre-cooked or fried.

I hope you like this recipe. It's awfully good, and like I said, you can't beat the sauce. (Here's the recipe for the 3 ingredient  sauce as well as my slow-cooker recipe)

Ingredients and Method:
1 cup Breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
8 ounces ground beef
8 ounces ground pork
1 cup ground Parmesan Cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 eggs (beaten)
2 garlic cloves, finely minced, or pressed


Mix milk and breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Set aside

Place beef and pork to a bowl and add cheese, salt, pepper, parsley, garlic, nutmeg and beaten eggs.

Drain milk from breadcrumbs and add to meat mixture.

Mix all ingredients together gently by hand. Try not to compress or squeeze the meat mixture. You're trying
to just combine them thoroughly and yet keep a "looseness" to the meat.

Refrigerate for 20 minutes so it will be easier to shape into meatballs.

Shape into meatballs about the size of a golf ball using a gentle touch. Add directly to cooking sauce 30 minutes before the sauce is done. (If making slow cooker sauce, then add the meatballs one hour prior to
the end of the cooking cycle.)

I made this with my 3 ingredients spaghetti sauce, and dusted it with shaved Parmesan. It was delicious.

Enjoy!

4 comments:

Maggie Hewes Adams said...

Thanks for following this up with the meatball recipe. I am probably going to try this tomorrow night. I tried the sauce on its own, but despite the internet blogging fame, it didn't hit home with me. Perhaps it's because I have an inCREDibly yummy sauce. I think I'll make my sauce with your meatballs and do the same simmering trick.

http://magnoliaadams.blogspot.com/2010/09/big-georges-rockin-spaghetti-sauce-best.html

Mine takes a bit longer and has some similar elements, but is exponentially better (in my humble opinion).

Maggie Hewes Adams said...

I made the meatballs last night and they were AMAZING! We loved them. We put them in my sauce, but nonetheless, fantastic!

dining room tables said...

I always like it when these two are together in one dish! So delicious and so pretty!

Barbara said...

I always use an equal amount of ground veal to my meatballs....makes a huge difference.