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<\/p>\nThere are a myriad of ways to make a meatball.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 But, the Italian meatball is the quintessential ball of meat.\u00a0 It can be eaten with pasta or on a fat loaf of Italian bread drowning in cheese and sauce.\u00a0 Or it can be sliced atop a pizza.\u00a0 Or on top of some mashed potatoes.\u00a0 And on and on, really.\u00a0 You can’t do that with those absurd Swedish meatballs.\u00a0 Have you have ever eaten a Swedish meatball sandwich?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Because that would be gross.\u00a0 Also, Ikea is lying about those things being delicious.<\/p>\n
The traditional way to cook an Italian meatball is to fry it in olive oil in a frying pan before dropping them into the sauce.\u00a0 I did this for decades.\u00a0 Now I don’t.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because it’s annoying.\u00a0 And the way the men in my house can plow through a batch of meatballs, I’d be standing at the stove for days frying meatballs in precious olive oil just to make a large enough batch to have leftovers for just one day.\u00a0 One day!\u00a0 Stop this insanity.\u00a0 Save your olive oil money.\u00a0 Bake them.\u00a0 I promise you won’t regret it.<\/p>\n
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But, but, but….I can hear some people stammering.\u00a0 There’s the texture argument….the meatball needs an outer crust to survive being stewed in marinara to make it soft, but still hold it’s shape.\u00a0 No, it doesn’t.\u00a0 Next!\u00a0 Oh, how do I know?\u00a0 Because I’ve done it a million times.\u00a0 Plus I have a trick.\u00a0 Well, do tell!\u00a0 The trick is water.\u00a0 Seriously, it’s that simple.\u00a0 Literally, the trick to a soft meatball that will hold together is a little tepid water in the mix.\u00a0 That’s it.<\/p>\n
Moving on.\u00a0 The basic formula, regardless of what you season your meatballs with, is one egg, a half cup of breadcrumbs, and a tablespoon of warm water per pound of ground beef.\u00a0 Salt it, pepper it, add all your weird ingredients to your heart’s content….this is the basics.\u00a0 Just remember that simple food is delicious.<\/p>\n
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Now, I use seasoned breadcrumbs I made myself, so less has to go into my meatballs because most of it is already in the breadcrumbs….salt, pepper, cheese, dried basil, dried parsley, etc.\u00a0 So, when I make meatballs, it’s pretty straightforward….breadcrumbs, eggs, water….that’s it.\u00a0 If you’re using store bought breadcrumbs…I’m sorry!….but you’ll probably have to add additional seasoning in the way of salt and pepper, basil, onion powder, garlic, etc.<\/p>\n
On a sidenote about cheese in the breadcrumbs….I use parmesan.\u00a0 I do not use wood cellulose AKA Kraft “parmesan cheese” from a shaker.\u00a0 It does make a difference.\u00a0 However…if you like the taste of parmesan, but you’re on a Kraft budget, be wary of the amount of salt you add to any breadcrumbs you make yourself.\u00a0 I learned this the hard way.<\/p>\n
About the ground beef….if you’re buying it from the grocery store, get the fattier stuff.\u00a0 Fat equals flavor.\u00a0 Less fat equals a dry meatball.\u00a0 Do not buy anything in a tube.\u00a0 Some people will combine ground pork and ground veal into the meatball.\u00a0 This is probably more authentic then the straight beef meatball, it’s true.\u00a0 But I don’t eat veal on principle and ground pork gets springy texturally when cooked, which is the opposite of what I’m after, so I stick with straight beef.\u00a0 Unless it’s an Italian wedding soup meatball, which as another post entirely.\u00a0 This part is entirely up to you.<\/p>\n
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