Don's Famous Meatballs
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 medium yellow onion
3-4 cloves garlic (I love garlic and sometimes add more.)
1/3 cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine (use about half that if
dried)
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground veal
1/3 to 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs (Actually, add breadcrumbs until the mix is dry
enough for the meatballs to hold together.)
2 eggs
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (If I'm adding too much breadcrumbs, I'll
add more cheese to dry out the mix.)
1 tsp Black pepper (If you want some heat, add some red pepper flacks.)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
3-6 cups of your favorite marinara
extra virgin olive oil to cook in
1. Place the chicken stock, onion, garlic and most of the parsley in a blender of food
processor and puree. Blend the crap out of the mixture.
2. In a large bowl, combine the pureed stock mix, meat, bread crumbs, eggs,
Parmigiano-Reggiano,
black pepper, the rest of the parsley and salt. Combine with both
hands until mixture is uniform. Do not over mix. Add more breadcrumbs if mix is
too loose.
3. Put a little olive oil on your hands and form mixture into balls the size of golf balls.
If you prefer
bigger or smaller, it will only affect the browning time.
4. Pour about 1/2-inch of extra virgin olive oil into a straight-sided,
10-inch-wide sauté pan and heat over medium-high flame.
Add the meatballs to the
pan (working in batches if necessary) and brown meatballs, turning once or more. This
will take about 10-15 minutes.
Brown the meatballs well, use a spatula and free the
meatballs from sticking to the pan after they have cooked for 5 minutes.
5. While the meatballs are browning, heat the marinara sauce in a stockpot over
medium heat.
Lift the meatballs out of the sauté pan with a slotted spoon and
put them in the marinara sauce. Stir gently. Simmer for one hour.
You can also freeze the meatballs now and add them to some
marinara sauce in the future.
6. Serve with a little extra Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.
Serve alone
or over spaghetti (in which case, you will need 6 cups of marinara).
Yield: Serves 4 as antipasto or over spaghetti