Meatballs

Name: Meatballs
Total time: 1800 s
Yield: About 40 meatballs
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 lb mixed ground meat (beef and pork); 1 lb breadcrumbs or soaked and squeezed rustic bread; 3-4 eggs, depending on size; About 1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese; About 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese; Salt to taste; Black pepper to taste; 2 cloves garlic; Fresh chopped parsley to taste; Vegetable oil

Enzo Falleti @enzofalleti

Reggio Calabria

Difficulty: ★ ☆ ☆

This is the iconic dish of Italian Sundays, especially here in the South. Just the smell of it takes me back to Sunday mornings when I was a child, waking up to the aroma that drew me into the kitchen. It's a traditional dish made with simple ingredients, using a 50/50 mix of meat and soaked stale bread. In the past, meat was a luxury, eaten once a week if you were lucky, so bread was used to supplement it.
The remaining ingredients are garlic, parsley, grated pecorino cheese (nowadays often mixed with parmesan to mellow it out), salt, and pepper.
The meatballs are then fried and eaten as is, or simmered in a simple tomato sauce, making them suitable as both a first and second course.
It's perhaps the dish that most embodies love in the form of food. Cook it for those you love.

Difficulty: ★ ☆ ☆

Enzo Falleti @enzofalleti

Reggio Calabria

Difficulty: ★ ☆ ☆

Saved

Ingredients

30 minutes

About 40 meatballs

1 lbmixed ground meat (beef and pork)
1 lbbreadcrumbs or soaked and squeezed rustic bread
3-4eggs, depending on size
About 1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese
About 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
2 clovesgarlic
Fresh chopped parsley to taste
Vegetable oil

Saved

Steps

30 minutes

1

Have all the ingredients ready before starting.
2

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until you get a smooth, firm, and compact mixture. Then form meatballs, about 1 oz each, making sure to wet your hands with a little water to handle the mixture better and shape the meatballs.
3

Heat the oil and fry the meatballs in hot vegetable oil a few at a time to avoid dropping the temperature too much. Cook them for about 3 minutes or until fully golden. Let them drain on paper towels and cool for a moment before eating.
Enjoy!
4

Tips:
✔️To check if the oil is hot enough for frying, dip a toothpick or the handle of a wooden spoon into it. It will be surrounded by bubbles when ready.
✔️ If the mixture isn't the right consistency, you can make it more uniform by adding a little water, oil, or milk.
✔️ Keep a bowl of water nearby to frequently wet your hands when forming the meatballs.
5

Mistakes:
❌Frying with oil that's not hot enough or too hot. In the first case, the frying won't be adequate; in the second, the crust will form too quickly, leaving the center of the meatball raw. The ideal temperature is about 340°F.
6

❌Not maintaining the right proportions between meat, bread, and eggs. It's important not to overdo the eggs because they bind the mixture but can make the meatballs hard when cooked. The right proportion is about one egg for every 10 oz of mixture.