Chef Rocco Dispiritos Mamas Meatballs Recipes

COPYCAT CHEF ROCCO DISPIRITO'S MAMA'S MEATBALLS RECIPE

Steps:

• Place the chicken stock, onion, garlic, and parsley in a blender or food processor and puree.
• In a large bowl, combine the pureed stock mix, meat, bread crumbs, egg, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, red pepper flakes, and salt.
• Combine with hands until mixture is uniform, do not overmix.
• Put a little olive oil on your hands and form mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls.
• Pour about 1/2 inch of extra virgin olive oil in straight sided, 10-inch-wide saute pan and heat over medium-high flame.
• Add the meatballs to the pan, working in batches if necessary, and brown meatballs, turning once.
• This should take about 10-15 minutes.
• While meatballs are browning, heat the marinara sauce in a large pot.
• Transfer the meatballs to the pot with the marinara sauce and simmer for one hour.
• Serve alone or over your favorite pasta.

SPAGHETTI WITH MY MAMAS MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Spray a large saucepan with 4 sprays of olive oil spray. Add half the garlic and half the onion and a pinch of red chili flakes and cook over medium heat until tender, about 2 minutes. Add half the chicken stock, tomato puree and diced tomatoes and simmer over low heat for an hour.
• Preheat the broiler. Meanwhile, using the tip of a knife, score the eggplant deeply and sprinkle with salt. Place the eggplant cut-side up and cook under the broiler until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Remove the eggplant from the broiler and place on a plate and microwave on high until tender, about 2 minutes. Let cool.
• In a large bowl, add the meats and mix gently to incorporate. Place the egg white, remaining chicken stock, onion, garlic and parsley in the beaker of a blender and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the mixture to the bowl with the meats, add the cheese and crumble the kamut in with your fingers. Sprinkle with salt and chili flakes.
• Scoop the eggplant pulp out of its skin and let any excess water drip off. Measure out 1/2 cup of the pulp, and then lightly chop and add to the meat mixture, folding in to incorporate. With the use of a tablespoon, measure out 16 even heaping mounds on to a clean work surface and then form into balls with your hands.
• Spray a large nonstick saute pan with 4 sprays of olive oil spray and heat over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add half of the meatballs and cook until lightly browned on one side, about 1 minute. Roll the meatballs on the other side and brown evenly, about 2 minutes. Remove the browned meatballs from the pan and then spray the pan with 4 more sprays and repeat the browning with the rest of the meatballs. Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer very slowly for an hour.
• Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts of water to a simmer and then add 1 tablespoon of salt. Drop the pasta in the water and cook per manufacturer's instructions. Place 4 meatballs each on 4 plates, and then add the spaghetti to the remaining sauce in the pan with 1/2 cup of the pasta water and cook until the sauce holds well on the pasta. Evenly distribute the pasta to each of the 4 plates.

MAMA'S MARINARA SAUCE AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• MAMA'S MARINARA SAUCE.
• Cook the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a sauce pot over a medium-low flame, about 10 minutes or until garlic is tender and onions translucent, not brown (this is called "sweating" because it will draw out a lot of moisture and flavor).
• Add all the tomato products. Pour the chicken stock into one of the 28-ounce cans. Fill it the rest of the way with water and add that and the sugar to the pot. Stir and bring to a simmer. Taste and season with red pepper flakes and salt, and cover. Simmer the sauce for about 1 hour. The sauce should be fairly thin but not watery and very smooth. Uncover and simmer for 3 minutes. If it is too thin for your taste, add a little water if it seems thick.
• MAMA'S MEATBALLS.
• Place the chicken stock, onion, garlic, and parsley in a food processor and purée.
• In a large bowl, combine the puréed stock mix, meat, bread crumbs, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, red pepper flakes, and salt. Combine with both hands until the mixture is distributed evenly. Do not overmix.
• Put a little olive oil on your hands and form the mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls. They should be about ¼ cup each, though if you prefer bigger or smaller, it will only affect the browning time.
• Pour about ½ inch of olive oil into a straight-sided, 10-inch-wide sauté pan and heat over a medium-high flame. Add the meatballs to the pan (working in batches, if necessary) and brown the meatballs well on all sides. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
• While the meatballs are browning, heat the marinara sauce in a stockpot over medium heat. Lift the meatballs out of the sauté pan with a slotted spoon and put them in the marinara sauce. Stir gently. Simmer for one hour.
• Serve with a little extra Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.