Meatball Heaven

Making meatballs isn't difficult, but doing it right can be a labor of love. No matter what the recipe, here's what goes into any truly great meatball:

1. Flavorful meat. No matter what kind of meat you're using, it needs a fair amount of fat. This can be achieved either with fatty meat, or by adding extra fat to the mixture. Lean meatballs, like those made only with ground turkey or very lean beef, may be passable, but they will never achieve quite the same flavor or nice soft, juicy texture without the fat (remember the episode on season 2 of Top Chef where Sam's team lost with hard, dry turkey meatballs?). And of course, always use meat that is totally fresh--anything even a little off will affect final flavor.

2. Moisture. Though it's a little tricky to work with, a meatball mixture needs to be pretty wet and sticky to make a tender, juicy meatball.

3. Starch that's a real ingredient, not just a filler. Meatballs need some sort of starch to help bind them together. Most recipes call for breadcrumbs, which also help hold in fat and moisture. Homemade breadcrumbs are far superior to the pre-made, canned variety, contributing both taste and texture to the meatballs. Other starches can work too, such as potatoes, or even beans. Just make sure whatever you're using tastes good on its own.

4. Careful seasoning. This may sound obvious, but the right amount of seasoning, especially salt, can help elevate a good meatball to the great. To check the seasoning, I keep a tiny warm, nonstick pan on the stove -- this allows me to quickly cook and test the meatball mixture until the seasonings are just right. Also, don't add big chunks of things you wouldn't want to bite into, like gobs of raw onion--they never really cook enough inside the meatballs, and I think they end up sort of nasty.

Every Italian-American has a grandmother's recipe for meatballs. Everyone else needs to befriend an Italian for their grandmother's recipe. I've sampled a lot of meatballs, and I think this one (based on one from my friend Buck's grandmother) is the best--it's brilliantly simple, saving the onion and garlic flavors for the sauce. This recipe serves 4-6:

- 1 ½ pounds mixed ground beef chuck, veal and pork (preferably freshly ground)
- 1 cup homemade bread crumbs (see recipe below)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- ¾ cup (or more) freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
- Optional: milk (add only if mixture is too dry)

- Marinara Sauce (see recipe below)

(If making your own marinara, start that first.)

Preheat oven to 450º.

Combine all ingredients (except the marinara) in a large bowl and mix together with very clean hands. Don't compress too much--keep it light. The mixture should be fairly soft, wet and sticky-add extra milk if necessary to get it right. TEST your seasoning by cooking small amounts--be sure to add enough salt. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes or so, to give the starch some time to absorb moisture, which will also firm it up a bit.

Shape meatballs with your hands--I like them about 2" across but I've made them both larger and smaller and honestly, it really doesn't matter. You can measure them out first with a large spoon or ice cream scoop, but you'll still need to roll them smooth with your hands. They will be sticky, but if your hands are slightly damp it helps.

Place meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. They don't expand like cookies, so you can place them fairly close together, but allow enough room for the heat to circulate between each one (at least 1"). Place sheet on center rack of oven, and bake 15-20 minutes, until meatballs are starting to brown and get bubbly. You can, of course, also brown them in a skillet, but I find the oven method works much better for a number of reasons (see below).

Meanwhile, place Marinara in large enamel pot, bring to simmer on stovetop, reduce heat to low, and cover.

Remove meatballs from oven and place in pot with sauce, along with any browned juices. Cover and simmer slowly for at least another 20 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through. Serve with sauce and grated parmesan, and pasta if desired (in Italy meatballs would never be served with pasta, but I sure like them that way!). They also make a wonderful grinder on toasted Italian bread.

Why brown the meatballs in the oven?
First, and most importantly, it helps retain moisture. Meatballs cooked in a skillet get moved around a lot, and every time they're picked up and moved, moisture escapes (hear that hissing and sizzling in the pan? That's moisture loss!) Second, the oven method helps ensure even browning on all sides. When cooked in a pan, meatballs require more effort and attention to make sure they don't burn, and/or get too close together (causing them to steam, rather than brown). Finally, it's a lot easier-if your mixture is wet enough, meatballs tend to fall apart easily when being moved around in a skillet. This particular recipe works especially well in the oven because the cheese in the meatball mixture helps them get a really nice crust.

For my meatballs, I like to use a fresh, crusty loaf of artisan bread, preferably one with a slightly charred crust (like Pane Pugliese). Cut into ½" slices crosswise, then cut each slice into cubes. Place in food processor with steel blade, pulse a bunch of times. You want the final product to be about half very fine crumbs and half larger (pea-sized) pieces. I often use them as-is, but you can dry them out a bit on a cookie sheet in a warm (200º) oven, especially with any leftover you want to keep.

½ cup extra virgin olive oil (yes, that much)
1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
2 28-oz. cans whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
¼ t. crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste--I like it with a kick)
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper
½ cup fresh basil leaves, shredded

Heat olive oil in enamel pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until very soft, 7-8 minutes. Add carrot and pepper flakes and cook 5 minutes more. Add tomatoes with their juice and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally and breaking tomatoes up with back of spoon, until sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Puree with a stick blender until fairly smooth (or you can skip this step and leave it chunky if you prefer.) Add the basil at the very end--if you're using this sauce for poaching the meatballs, add it after the meatballs are finished simmering. Makes about 1 quart of sauce.

Yes, you can get fantastic store-bought marinara
Why buy it when you can make it? That's my usual philosophy, but hey, even I need a shortcut every now and then. Anyhow, I somehow discovered a great jarred sauce (a reasonably-priced one, that is--there are definitely some very good but expensive small-batch, gourmet brands out there) that tastes like mine--if you live near a Stop & Shop or Giant Foods, check out the "Simply Enjoy" house label brand of Marinara (and Fra Diavolo) sauce. It's all-natural, made with good, simple ingredients, and so delicious I actually keep several jars hidden in the back of my pantry--please don't tell my husband!!!

Last fall, I was cooking dinner for a friend who was on a low-carb (no bread, no pasta) diet. I decided to make low-carb meatballs (or lower-carb meatballs) by simply replacing the bread crumbs in my usual recipe with a can of fork-mashed cannellini beans. I served them with zucchini "tagliatelle" (thin ribbons of zucchini poached for 60 seconds in salted water, drained, and drizzled with olive oil). They were amazing. The bean flavor is definitely discernable, but it works perfectly, and the texture comes out great. This is now the way I make meatballs most of the time, carbs or no carbs.

There are as many "classic" Italian meatball recipes as there are Italian grandmothers. Here are some common additions/variations to the meatball mixture:

Vegetables: Many recipes call for onion and/or garlic in the meatball mixture. If you do choose to add them, it's best if they're finely chopped (or grated/crushed) and sautéed ahead of time until soft

Herbs: Finely chopped basil, oregano, or marjoram

Meats: Finely chopped or ground pancetta, leftover braised meats finely chopped

Cheese: Ricotta, Pecorino

Bread: Stale white sandwich bread soaked in milk or water

Sicilan: Includes raisins and pine nuts

I may not have had an Italian grandmother, but I did have a Norwegian one. Most people in the US are familiar with Swedish meatballs (especially with the proliferation of Ikea stores!), and indeed the Norwegian and Swedish versions are very similar--especially when you consider all the individual variations of the dish.

So what makes Norwegian/Swedish meatballs different from Italian meatballs? The most noticeable thing is the sauce--Italian meatballs are served in a tomato-based marinara-type sauce ("gravy", as it's called in my NJ high school neighborhood), while the Scandinavians serve theirs in a creamy brown sauce, more like a traditional brown gravy. The meat used to make Norwegian/Swedish meatballs is traditionally ground more finely than in Italian meatballs, and the seasonings and accompaniments are a bit different as well, as you can see below.

Here's how I do it:

- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1½ pounds ground beef chuck
- ¾ cup plain white bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- ½ t. fresh ground nutmeg
- (¼ t. allspice for Swedish meatballs)
- Salt and white pepper (for meatballs and sauce)
- Flour for dredging
- 2 T. butter

- 2 cups homemade beef stock (chicken or veal works fine too)--see our "All About Stock" lens for recipe (see link below)
- ¼ cup sour cream (Swedish meatballs use heavy cream instead)
- Lingonberry jam

Sautee onion and carrot in butter or olive oil until soft. Place in food processor with raw beef, bread crumbs, egg, and nutmeg (and allspice, if using), salt and white pepper. Process until you have a smooth, even mixture (you do want the meat to be very finely ground, but don't kill it). Cook a spoonful to check seasoning. When you're finished, let the mixture rest for 10 minutes.

Shape into fairly small meatballs (1"-1½" across) and dredge them in flour. Brown them in melted butter over medium-high heat in an enameled cast iron Dutch oven (like a LeCreuset pot), turning frequently (I don't use the oven in this case, since the browned flour coating the meatballs and remaining in the pot becomes the "roux" for thickening the gravy after the stock is added).

Add stock to pot, bring to a simmer, and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, add sour cream (it helps to stir sour cream first), salt and white pepper. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Serve meatballs with sauce, along with a big spoonful of lingonberry jam. Boiled potatoes are a traditional side, but mashed potatoes or egg noodles are really good too.

Please add your favorites to the guestbook!

New York City:
Little Owl (classic Italian meatball sliders)
Esca (tuna)
A Voce (duck and fois gras)
Hearth (veal and ricotta--see recipe below)
Kefi (Greek--see below)
Maremma (lamb)

Providence, RI:
Caffe Dolce Vita (classic Italian)
Venda Ravioli (classic Italian)
Al Forno (ribeye meatballs, sometimes rabbit meatballs)

Portland, OR:
Three Doors Down (classic Italian)

Los Angeles, CA
Fraiche (meatball sliders)

Marco Canora's Sunday meatballs at Hearth in the East Village are a real crowd-pleaser. The ricotta is drained overnight and mixed with an equal amount of ground veal, as well as plenty of parmesan cheese. Interestingly, there is no bread or starch in these meatballs, but with so much cheese they are rich, light, and melt-in-your mouth delicious.

Michael Psilakis is famous for his heavenly-soft meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, sort of a marriage of between keftedes (Greek meatballs) and soutsoukakia (another Greek meatball-type dish with a tomato sauce). His version is rich and bursting with flavor. While not the official recipe, here is our take on his dish:

Soutsoukakia Sauce Recipe
- ½ c. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lg. red onion, chopped fine
- 3 lg. cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 cup hearty red wine
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- ½ t. crushed red pepper flakes
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- ½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved lengthwise
- ½ cup garlic confit (cloves from 1 head)--see recipe below
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 T. chopped mint leaves
- 2 T. chopped flat-leaf parsley
- ¼ cup fresh grated Pecorino

Heat olive oil in large enamel Dutch oven. Add onion and garlic, sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, wine, bay leaf, and red pepper. Bring to a simmer, and simmer gently until thickened, about 30 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot-the sauce is now ready for the meatballs to be added.

Greek Meatballs (Keftedes) Recipe
- 4 slices all-natural white bread with crust, soaked in milk and very gently squeezed of excess liquid
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 T olive oil
- ¾ lb. coarsely ground lamb
- ¾ lb. coarsely ground pork
- 1 T. ground cumin, toasted
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- ¼ c. fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 2 T. flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Garnish: Julienned mint leaves, lemon zest, and crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 450º. Heat olive oil in small sauté pan. Add onion and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Place in mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients, and combine gently with very clean hands--combine completely, but be careful not to overwork the mixture. Form into balls 1½"-2" across--the mixture should be pretty wet and sticky (it's easier to work with if you keep your hands damp with water). Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, keeping at least 1" apart. Bake 15-20 minutes, until meatballs begin to get brown and bubbly. (Note: Kefi's meatballs are floured and browned in a skillet.) Add meatballs to sauce, simmer an additional 15 minutes.

Place meatballs and sauce on serving dish. Garnish with mint, lemon zest, and feta. Serve with fresh pita bread and garlic oil.

This recipe yields soft, mild, nutty garlic cloves and an incredible bread-dipping oil for anytime.

1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
2 strips lemon zest
1 bay leaf
¾ cup olive oil
pinch red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in small saucepan (mini-sized if you have one). The oil should cover the garlic-add a little more if necessary. Bring to a simmer, lower heat, and simmer very gently until garlic is very soft, about 35 minutes. Remove from heat, strain solids and reserve the oil. Remove garlic cloves from solids and reserve, discard the rest.