Italian Meatballs

When I was a kid, the only time we ever had meatballs was with spaghetti or in albondigas soup. It never occurred to me that one could simply have meatballs with sauce, until I wandered into a restaurant in San Francisco and ordered some Italian meatballs, as an appetizer, or so I thought.

To me, meatballs were small little things and three of them would have made a lovely starter for the more substantial entré to follow. Hah!

My eyes practically fell out of their sockets when the meatballs arrived. They were almost the size of baseballs. Holy moly. But they were fabulous, and it just meant I had more food to share with my friends.

These meatballs aren’t quite the size of baseballs though they could be if you wanted them to. Actually you could make them any size you wanted. They’re tender, loaded with herbs and cheese, a mixture of ground beef and pork, and covered with a classic tomato sauce. Enjoy!

Italian Meatballs Recipe

We've used equal amounts of ground beef and ground pork. You could also use a third each of ground beef, pork and veal.

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 1 pound ground beef (at least 16 percent fat)
• 1 pound ground pork
• 2/3 cup milk (whole or 2 percent)
• 3 slices of white bread, crusts removed (about 3 ounces)
• 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano or marjoram
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• About 1 cup of flour for dusting
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups (24 ounces) of tomato sauce (make in step 1 of method or use already prepared)

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onions
• 3/4 cup finely chopped carrots
• 3/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 28 oz. can crushed or whole tomatoes, including the juice, or 1 3/4 pound of fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

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