In our house, Sunday would not be a Sunday without meatballs. My mother usually made two types—fried and simmered in sauce. We always added the uncooked meatballs directly into the cooking sauce.
She always made meatballs in batches of 13, in honor of St. Anthony’s Feast Day.
The mini version of these meatballs is used in my recipe for Chicken Soup with Little Meatballs and available in my cookbook, The Italian Daughter's Cookbook.
Meatballs
4
servings15
minutes30
minutesIngredients
1 pound 1 ground meat (beef, pork, veal, or a combination)
2 large 2 eggs
1/2 cup 1/2 breadcrumbs
1/4 cup 1/4 fresh parsley, finely chopped, optional
2 2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
1/2 cup 1/2 freshly grated cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, or Pecorino Romano)
1/8 teaspoon 1/8 freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, for dipping
2 cups 2 pure olive oil, for frying (if frying)
Directions
- In a large bowl, add the ground meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, parsley and garlic (if using), grated cheese, and pepper.
- Thoroughly mix all the ingredients with your hands.
- Place a small amount of oil in a small bowl.
- Dip your fingers in the oil and then spread the oil in the palm of your other hand.
- Take a piece of the meat mixture and roll it in the palm of your hands until it is uniformly round (the medium meatballs should each be about the size of a golf ball; the mini meatballs should each be about the size of a shelled hazelnut).
- When all the meatballs are formed, they can be added directly to your sauce or fried according to the instructions below.
- To fry meatballs**
- In a 10-inch frying pan, add oil (about ½-inch in depth) and heat for 3 to 4 minutes on medium-high heat (to test the oil, place a pinch of the meatball mixture in the oil; if it begins to sizzle, the oil is ready).
- Add the meatballs in batches and continue to fry on medium heat until brown on all sides.
- Remove from the pan and place on a paper-towel lined dish to absorb excess oil.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
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