Apologies for the lack of entries recently; I haven't felt like cooking anything new or inventive! We've been relying on old favourites that I can cook without having to actually employ any brain-power. One such recipe is my favourite: meatballs!
This recipe started life as a WeightWatchers recipe, and it's still fairly healthy despite some tweaking by me. I'm not sure how authentic it is, but it certainly has all the boldness of flavour that I'd expect from a proper Italian recipe. I decided to try adding some parmesan to the meatball mixture (in addition to the copious amounts that we sprinkle over the finished dish) and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked out. The cheese flavour wasn't overly pervasive; just nice and subtle and really worked well with the meat.
I've tried numerous meatball recipes in a rather circular quest for the perfect meatballs. This recipe was the first one I ever tried and I was certain that there had to be even better meatballs out there. After trying recipes from Cooking Light, Epicurious, various obscure cookbook from my bookcase and even Marcella Hazan's I think I can safely say that these are my perfect meatballs!
Italian Meatballs - serves up to four
400g lamb mince
30g fresh breadcrumbs
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely - I chop the garlic and onion together in the food processor
¼ teaspoon red chilli flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
a good grating of parmesan (I'd say approx 15g) - optional
1 medium egg, beaten
olive oil as needed
300ml good quality tomato juice (I like Libby's)
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 beef stock cube
small handful fresh basil
salt and pepper
In a large bowl, squidge together the mince, onion, garlic, herbs, parmesan, lots of salt and pepper and the egg. When well combined, gradually squidge in the breadcrumbs until you have a firm, yet moist mixture that can be easily rolled into balls. Dip your hands into a bowl of cold water and start rolling the mix into balls - re-dip your hands if the mixture starts to stick. I usually get about 20 meatballs out of this. They're roughly an inch in diameter. Place the meatballs on a platter and chill until needed. At a pinch, you can bung them in the freezer for 5-10 minutes if you need them in a hurry.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. If your mince was quite fatty then you can probably get away with dryfrying the meatballs. Fry the meatballs until browned on all sides. This is easiest if the pan is uncrowded and the meatballs are well chilled. If they're not chilled then they will break up very easily and while it still tastes good, it spoils the overall look of the dish. I use a wooden spoon and palette knife to turn the meatballs without breaking them. Pour off the excess oil and dispose of safely - NOT down the sink!!
Once all the meatballs are browned, pour over the tomato juice and chopped tomatoes. Crumble the stock cube over and add salt and pepper. Give it a gentle stir and leave to simmer uncovered for 30-35 minutes. By this time, the sauce should be thick and sweet. Adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve over fresh pasta.
Alternatively, you can griddle some onion and peppers and make meatball subs! Just stuff a long bread with some griddled veg, meatballs and sauce and as much mozzarella as you want and flash under the grill to get the mozzarella really melty. Absolutely divine!
LiveJournal feed
Comments
Hey-- nice recipe ! I made it tonight and served it with couscous and rice-- went down a treat.
1. Posted by Sammy on June 26, 2007
Hi, I've made this recipe a few times and variations on it. I just wanted to say what a great site this is and how much I and I'm sure many others appreciate your posts.
Thank you.
2. Posted by Ana on July 30, 2007
my kids love this one,cheers
3. Posted by phil on September 8, 2007
Actually you DO put parmesan cheese in a traditional Italian meatball mixture...
4. Posted by Anna on November 1, 2007
This long-lost comment has been restored from backup.
y ex MIL (Italian) taught me to make meatballs by using a mix of ground veal and beef and mixing in Parmesan, among the usual ingredients. They are excellent. I usually bake them these days.
5. Posted by Ellen on November 20, 2007
This long-lost comment has been restored from backup.
Mmmmmm, those meatballs sound wonderful Ellen! I've never seen ground (minced) veal in our supermarkets, I'll have to look for that and make them for an extra-special meal.
6. Posted by Angela on November 20, 2007
Thanks for the recipe. Gave it a try, and enjoyed it a lot.
7. Posted by Steve on March 16, 2008