Authentic Italian Meatballs Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
• Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onions in hot oil until translucent, about 20 minutes.
• Mix beef and pork together in a large bowl. Stir onions, bread crumb mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian herb seasoning, and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.
• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Using wet hands, form meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Arrange onto prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

AUTHENTIC ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients in a large bowl by hand.
• Use your bare hands for best results.
• Roll meatballs to about the size of a golf ball. (wet your hands to prevent the meat from sticking to them while rolling the meat balls).
• Drop raw meatballs into large (I use a stock pot) pot of sauce.
• (I have an incredible sauce recipe {#92096} I use for my meatballs).
• Simmer for about 3 hours.

ITALIAN BAKED MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix bread crumbs, Romano cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder together. Combine with water and eggs. Add ground beef and mix well. Roll mixture into balls and place on a nonstick baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned, about 30 minutes.

GREAT-GRANDMA'S ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a small skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Cool slightly., In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, seasonings and onion mixture. Add turkey and beef; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape into 1-1/2-in. balls., Place meatballs on a rack coated with cooking spray in a 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake until lightly browned and cooked through, 18-22 minutes. If desired, serve with pasta and pasta sauce.

AUTHENTIC ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• With clean hands, mix all ingredients except for milk and salt in very large bowl. Mixture will feel somewhat dry.
• Start adding milk approximately one cup at a time until the mixture feels more moist and pliable.
• Sprinkle the top of the mixture finely with the season salt and work that in as well.
• (The size of the meatball is up to you- I like them on the bigger side so I roll them bigger than a golfball but smaller than a tennnis ball. I also prefer baking them in the oven over frying them. They seem to brown more evenly and they hold their shape better.).
• Line them in a 9x13 pan sprayed with cooking spray (12 per pan) and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20-30 min.'s or until browned.
• Transfer them carefully into your pot of simmering tomato sauce and simmer them only for about an hour. If you cook them too long in the sauce, they will lose their flavor.
• This is a good amount for a large crowd. You can freeze half if needed.