Italian-American Meatballs

The other night I had a pound of fresh ground beef in the refrigerator and a yen for spaghetti and meatballs, so I started hunting through my recipe file for a meatball recipe that sounded right. Once again, a recipe from The Chef from World Wide Recipes came to my attention (he puts out an excellent free daily recipe e-zine that I can heartily recommend) ... it didn't look complicated and I had most of the ingredients, so I decided to make it.



Italian-American Meatballs

Although meatballs aren't completely unknown in Italy, it was Italian immigrants in America who turned them into the most popular dish in Italian-style restaurants. All you need is these meatballs, some tomato sauce (yours or from a jar), and some cooked spaghetti, and you have a classic Italian-American dish. And don't forget the garlic bread.

Recipe By: The Chef at World Wide Recipes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups ; (375 ml) soft bread cubes from sliced white bread (about 2 to 3 cups)
1 egg
1/3 cup ; (80 ml) milk
1 pound ; (450 g) ground beef or beef and pork mixture
1/2 cup ; (125 ml) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 -4 cloves garlic ; finely chopped
1/4 cup ; (60 ml) finely chopped parsley (I used chopped cilantro, and a lot more than 1/4 cup. Not only is cilantro in my refrigerator more often than parsley, but also, have I mentioned (?), I love cilantro!)
Salt ; and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions:

Combine the bread, egg, and milk in a mixing bowl, stirring to combine, and let rest for 15 minutes. Mash the bread mixture with a fork to make a smooth paste. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Form the meat into balls about the size of golf balls (or larger if you like) and place them on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 400F (200C) oven until browned, about 20 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.

Verdict:

I served the meatballs with a chunky style canned spaghetti sauce (with the price of tomatoes here recently, it is actually a better buy, although I don't usually agree with canned when I can get fresh) and Angel Hair Pasta. The meatballs were juicy and moist with an undertone of parmesan that was perfect with the tomato sauce. I have already taught the meatball recipe to the cook at Gringo Perdido and keep a batch frozen for fast dinners at home.