In addition to pizza, I love me some pasta. One of my favorites is spaghetti with meatballs. We know from history that this is an American dish–the Italians that came over here added the meatballs by request. My basic recipe is to use 2 parts ground beef, 1 part ground pork. I add small cubes of bread and add milk to soak them, some green herb such as oregano or parsley, and a liberal dose of salt and black pepper. Mix it all up and make balls about 2-3 inches in diameter. Bake in the oven at 375 until done. Tomato sauce and parmesan with a few glasses of red wine.
Skip the bread - try Quaker Oats, the real stuff not the instant. Crunch up some cereal like Cheerios in a strong plastic bag. Mashed potato flakes/buds. Save the bread for some Bruschetta with tomato and basil. Chopped fresh tomatoes with garlic, basil, olive oil, and vinegar, served on toasted slices of French or Italian bread.
Onions man - where are the onions??:eek::mad: Chopped, minced, whatever.
Hard grated cheese like Romano.
For some heat - chiles - red/green depending on your taste.
I tried this recipe for super-rich (pork+beef+veal, provolone+ricotta+parmesean+romano) classic NYC Italian-American meatballs from Saveur magazine recently, and really enjoyed them - BUT with the caveat that I thought the 1/4 cup of sugar called for in the sauce was far too much.
I’ve never really been a fan of veal mixed in with beef and pork. It seems too mild. I do like veal cutlets, like in veal parmesan or veal sausage. Yes, I think the 1/4 sugar is too much as is all that cheese. But I may try a couple ideas from that recipe.
Search for a Mark Bittman recipe which uses beef pork and lamb. Make sure to cook in olive oil on stove top rather than roasting in oven, Much more favorful.
The technical key to good meatballs is a panade, as explained here. This keeps them moist and tender. A skosh of baking powder fluffens them a bit. If you get the technical part settled, the rest is a matter of taste, and the variations are endless.
I like a combination of meats, but ground beef alone will do if that’s what I have. Fresh bread crumbs are preferable, but dried works well too, just add more liquid. Milk works well to keep things moist, beef broth helps bland meat. You can add some wine or sauce or whatever you want also. I always put in a shot of Worcestershire. I might use finely chopped onions or crushed garlic, it depends on the sauce. I’ll use 1 egg per 1 1/2 lbs. of meat usually. Parsely, oregano, basil, salt and black pepper are my goto seasonings, but everyone has the flavors they like. I form the meatballs and keep them in the fridge for an hour or more as I prepare the sauce. Then I drop them in raw, browning doesn’t seem to improve them. If you want the flavor from browning saute some ground meat with the onions when you prepare the sauce.