Sunday dinner is my favorite meal of the week. It is the one time that everyone is home, eating at the same time, and enjoying each other’s company – minus the occasional reminder for the kids to put away the cell phones.
Jim and I both love to cook and best of all, we enjoy cooking together. So when it was time to plan out our Sunday family dinner menu, the Italian side of him brought out the idea to make a classic meatball recipe.
Now, we aren’t talking about the size of the frozen meatballs that you purchase in the grocery store for appetizers.
Traditional Italian meatballs are much larger and in fact, can be a meal among themselves. They size can be compared to a tennis ball!
You can serve them as their own entrée with a side of marinara sauce, or serve them on top of pasta.
We let our meatballs cook in the crockpot for several hours while absorbing the flavors of our home-made canned pasta sauce made straight from the garden last summer (see recipe here – Canned Pasta Sauce Recipe).
The aroma made everyone’s mouth water in anticipation of the upcoming dinner.
And don’t forget, if you have extra time, you can even make your own homemade noodles. (see recipe here – How to Make Your Own Pasta Noodles)
1 1/2 lbs of sweet Italian sausage 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef 1/2 large onion, diced finely
3 eggs 1/2 red pepper, diced finely 1/2 green pepper, diced finely 6 cloves garlic 3 cups of breadcrumbs (we mix traditional and italian blends)
1 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese 1 3/4 cups of red wine (or water) 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning mix 3/4 -1 cup of olive oil for browning the meatballs
Instructions:
1. Place all the ingredients EXCEPT for the wine/water into a large bowl.
2. Pour 3/4 cup of wine on top of the mixture and begin to mix using your hands. Once ingredients begin to become blended, add the remaining wine/water. Continue working mixture until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
3. Roll meatballs to desired size using the palms of your hands. **HINT — dip your hands into warm water prior to rolling the mixture. This will decrease the amount of mixture that becomes stuck on your hands. Reapply water as needed.
Making Homemade Goodness
4. Next, in a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Once heated add a few meatballs to the pan, making sure to leave room to turn each of them. *We placed 4 or 5 meatballs in at one time. Brown each side. *They will not be cooked through at this point.
5. Remove browned meatballs and drain on a paper towel. Repeat the process until all meatballs are browned.
6. Add meatballs to a crockpot and add enough pasta sauce to just cover the top of each meatball. Our 6 1/2 quart crockpot held 12 tennis ball sized meatballs.
7. Cook on high for 4-6 hours, or low for 8-10 hours, or until cooked through.
8. Eat as an entrée, or add it to a bed of pasta.
Enjoy!
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Mary and Jim
Italian Meatballs
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs of sweet Italian sausage
1 1/2 lbs of ground beef
3 eggs
1/2 large onion, diced finely
1/2 red pepper, diced finely
1/2 green pepper, diced finely
6 cloves garlic
3 cups of breadcrumbs, we mix traditional and italian blends
1 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese
1 3/4 cups of red wine, or water
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning mix
3/4 -1 cup of olive oil for browning the meatballs
Instructions
Place all the ingredients EXCEPT for the wine/water into a large bowl.
Pour 3/4 cup of wine on top of the mixture and begin to mix using your hands. Once ingredients begin to become blended, add the remaining wine/water. Continue working mixture until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
Roll meatballs to desired size using the palms of your hands. **HINT -- dip your hands into warm water prior to rolling the mixture. This will decrease the amount of mixture that becomes stuck on your hands. Reapply water as needed.
In a large skilled, heat olive oil on medium heat. Once heated add a few meatballs to the pan, making sure to leave room to turn each of them. *We placed 4 or 5 meatballs in at one time. Brown each side. *They will not be cooked through at this point.
Remove browned meatballs and drain on a paper towel. Repeat the process until all meatballs are browned.
Add meatballs to a crockpot and add enough pasta sauce to just cover the top of each meatball. Our 6 1/2 quart crockpot held 12 tennis ball sized meatballs.
Cook on high for 4-6 hours, or low for 8-10 hours, or until cooked through.
American meatballs are the biggest in size, with Italian and Swedish meatballs following on the depth chart. Italian meatballs call for seasonings like grated parmesan and oregano, while Swedish ones use seasonings like nutmeg and allspice. While it doesn't sound like a huge distinction, you'll notice it in the taste!
In Italy, you won't find spaghetti and large meatballs on the same plate. Spaghetti and meatballs, a dish that usually features meatballs more than one inch in diameter, is quintessentially Italian-American. That said, you can find similar dishes in southern Italy that feature egg-based pasta and small meatballs.
The stale taste is because when food is frozen for too long, it can dry out. You want to add egg to the meat to moisten it. Make sure to blend the whole egg into the meat so that it can be thoroughly absorbed.
Although meatballs cooked in tomato sauce and served with pasta is likely what most Americans first imagine when they think of them, this meatball preparation is virtually nonexistent in Italy. In most regions, meatballs are just fried and eaten as is—enjoyed as a snack or served as a second course without any sauce.
Italian meatballs are made with 1/2 pork and 1/2 beef meat, bread, eggs, seasoned cheese, garlic, onion, parsley, salt, pepper, sometimes milk to make them soft.
"Al forno" simply means "baked in an oven," and it's the most customary way you'll find meatballs and pasta in the same dish together in Italy. While spaghetti and meatballs may not be so common, a casserole-style dish of pasta and meatballs certainly is - think baked ziti!
Called polpettes, Italian meatballs are often served sauceless and are much smaller than the meatballs you're probably used to. Traditional Italian meatballs typically contain equal portions of meat and soaked bread, and other additions such as egg and vegetables.
The reason why you should not break pasta is that it's supposed to wrap around your fork. That's how long pasta is supposed to be eaten. You rotate your fork, and it should be long enough to both stick to itself and get entangled in a way that it doesn't slip off or lets sauce drip from it.
Adding raw meatballs to the sauce and gently simmering till cooked yields ultra-tender results, and infuses the sauce with meaty flavor—a slow cooker gives great results.
No, you do not have to thaw frozen meatballs before cooking them in sauce. In fact, cooking them frozen can help them hold their shape better. Here are some tips for cooking frozen meatballs in sauce: Heat your sauce of choice in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat.
Baking will result in meatballs with a crunchy exterior, though the caramelisation achieved from frying will be superior. Baked meatballs take the least amount of effort, as you'll only need to turn them once or twice throughout the cook and you can make a larger batch at once.
Sicilian meatballs, on the other hand, are typically made from a combination of ground beef and ground pork, along with ingredients like garlic, onion, parsley, breadcrumbs, and sometimes even pine nuts and raisins. They are often served in a tomato sauce or a sweet and sour sauce made from vinegar and sugar.
Called polpettes, Italian meatballs are often served sauceless and are much smaller than the meatballs you're probably used to. Traditional Italian meatballs typically contain equal portions of meat and soaked bread, and other additions such as egg and vegetables.
The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a "plurality of worlds".
While they are all balls of meat, the ingredients, the meat mix, the spices (perhaps the biggest difference) and the way they are served and the sauces used for service are very different.
Italian Meatballs vs Swedish Meatballs: Swedish Meatballs are typically smaller in size than Italian meatballs and they are usually made with a 50-50 ratio of ground pork and ground beef.
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