Italian(ish) Meatballs
When I was a kid, every Christmas my parents would ask my sisters and me what we wanted for Christmas Dinner. They'd vote for ham or turkey. We would ALWAYS outvote them and ask for Mom's Spaghetti and Meatballs. They were that good...
Thing is, as I grew older, I found that meatballs didn't have to be married to a bowl of pasta, although that was a very happy marriage. I discovered the meatball sub. I also discovered this thing called the "diet" which eschewed pasta and other carbs. So, I figured I'd look at a recipe that would cut down on a lot of (but not all) the carbs and focus on the meaty goodness. Spiced from the inside out, with a touch of spaghetti sauce already incorporated INTO the meatball, they come out firm but not tough, bound together with both egg and gelatin.
I've seen the beef/pork/veal combo recipe, and I've tried a few of them, but frankly I like my meatballs to be BEEFY to the extreme. Now, you can always switch to the trinity if that is your wont, or you can even get a bit exotic and do a 50/50 with beef and ground Italian sausage for a spicy change of pace.
Ingredients:
3 lbs. Ground Chuck (80/20)
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce
2 pks Unflavored Gelatin
2 Eggs
1 oz. Garlic Paste
0.5 oz. Tomato Paste
1.5 oz. Saltine Crackers, finely crushed
2 oz. Dried Minced Onion
1 T. Dried Rosemary
1 T. Italian Seasoning
1 t. Garlic Powder
0.5 t. Salt
0.5 t. Black Pepper
Recipe:
In medium glass bowl, place 4 oz. of spaghetti sauce (set aside/refrigerate the rest for last step). Sprinkle gelatin over sauce, allow to bloom, then mix with fork. Will become quite thick and pasty.
In mortar and pestle, combine rosemary, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper, grind well until rosemary is nearly powder.
Add eggs, garlic paste, and tomato paste to spaghetti sauce and gelatin, blend well until fully incorporated.
Place ground chuck in large bowl. Use fingers to poke deep holes in meat, and then dump in sauce mix, dried onions, crushed saltines and crushed spices. Mix thoroughly with hands, but try not to "overwork" the meat to avoid tough meatballs. Place in airtight plastic container and refrigerate at least overnight, preferably 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°. Roll 2 oz. meatballs and place on greased/sprayed half-sheet pans approx. half an inch apart. Put into upper rack. Bake at least 25 minutes, check internal temp of at least 170°. Remove from grease and drain.
Place the meatballs in a preheated crock-pot on high. Heat up the remaining spaghetti sauce in the microwave, then pour over meatballs. Keep on high for one hour, reduce to medium for two or low for three.
Serves six Goombas or four Guidos...
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