Ingredients
- 2 slices white sandwich bread, stale
- 1/3 cup cold milk
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1/2 pound ground veal
- 1/2 pound ground beef chuck
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 medium onion, grated (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup olive oil, divided
- Quick Marinara Sauce, recipe follows
- Serving suggestions: 1 pound cooked spaghetti or linguini
Directions
Grate the bread or pulse into crumbs in a food processor. In a small bowl toss the bread crumbs with milk to re-hydrate.
In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, pork, veal, beef, Parmesan, parsley, salt, onion, garlic, and egg and mix until combined. Season the meat mixture with pepper.
Using your hands, gently form the meat mixture into 18 slightly larger than golf ball-sized balls. (Packing the meat mixture too tightly together will result in tough meatballs). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
Heat half the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, until well browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Drain the oil and wipe out the skillet, return to the heat, and repeat with the remaining oil and meatballs.
Drain and wipe out the skillet again. Return all the meatballs to the skillet and pour in the marinara sauce. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, swirling the pan occasionally, until the meatballs are cooked through about 15 minutes. The cheese in the meatballs will start to melt when the meatballs are ready. Serve immediately with the Quick Marinara Sauce and spaghetti or on sandwiches. If serving with spaghetti, toss with 1/3 of the sauce.These meatballs can be stored, covered in the refrigerator for 3 days, or frozen for up to 6 weeks.
Copyright (c) 2004 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved.
Quick Marinara Sauce
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 medium onion, diced (about 3 tablespoons)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 (28-ounce) cans whole, peeled, tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the herb sprigs and basil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for about 15 minutes or until thickened
Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Stir in the salt and season with pepper, to taste. Serve or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
Copyright (c) 2004 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved.















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By Pamela Marie
on September 28, 2011
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I've used this recipe to make a double batch of meatballs twice now and they are absolutely delicious! This is the only recipe I use for meatballs and tastes extremely similar to what my Italian-American family has always made (but never wrote down. The alterations that I make to tailor it to my family's tastes are to use ground lamb instead of the veal and use a pork italian sausage mix for convenience instead of the ground pork + fresh basil and thyme. The sausage mix has these spices plus some fennel seed in it already.
By mballantoni
North Branford,CT
on September 05, 2011
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All in all I thought that this recipe was very good. The only thing I would caution people about is the amount of salt. I didn't have time to make my own breadcrumbs (even if I had time I don't think that I would have made my own anywayso I used seasoned breadcrumbs, and with the grated cheese and the salt that the recipe calls for the meatballs were a little salty. If you use seasoned breadcrumbs I would cut the salt from 2 teaspoons to 1 teaspoons. Otherwise it is a great recipe.
By lirpasnave_13063630
welland
on June 21, 2011
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Really delicious! I used all extra lean ground beef & made bread crumbs out of croutons, but other than that followed everything to a T. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Read all 71 reviews