Mamas Old School Meatballs Recipes

GRANDMA MARONI'S MEATBALLS AND MARONI SAUCE 100 YEAR OLD RECIPE

Steps:

• For the meatballs:.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
• Mix chuck, bread crumbs, eggs, milk, Romano, onion, garlic, parsley and basil thoroughly in large bowl. If mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs.
• Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Place into preheated oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes.
• To make the sauce:.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add oil. Once heated add the finely sliced garlic and onions to the pan. Cook over medium heat until soft and slightly brown. Next add the canned crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper and stir. Allow the sauce to come to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the julienned basil.
• Simmer meatballs in sauce for about 10 minutes, and then serve over al dente pasta. YUM!

MAMA IULIUCCI'S FAMOUS MEAT-A-BALLS (ITALIAN MEATBALLS)

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients gently in a large bowl until well combined.
• Roll meatballs 1 1/2- 1 3/4" in diameter.
• Heat about 1/4" of oil over medium heat in a large frying pan.
• Fry meatballs in oil, rolling frequently, until evenly browned and juices run clear.
• Drop meatballs in your favorite sauce (I highly recommend My Mama Iuliucci's"Don't Skip a Step" Spaghetti Sauce recipe#26947) and let simmer for awhile to flavor sauce or just serve with your favorite pasta and sauce.
• Tip: You can also bake or broil these if the frying part is too much of a hassle-- I use my broiler pan if I bake them, so the fat drips down and away from the meatballs.

MAMA'S OLD-FASHIONED ALBONDIGAS (MEATBALL SOUP)

Steps:

• Pour water into a large stockpot over high heat. Stir in 3 cups tomato sauce, yellow onion, chicken bouillon, garlic, and 1 tablespoon dried oregano. Bring broth to a slow boil.
• Combine ground beef, eggs, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, white rice, 1/4 cup cilantro, seasoned salt, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and cumin in a large bowl. Squeeze mixture with your hands until thoroughly mixed.
• Scoop 1/4 cup of beef mixture and form in a ball. Lower gently into boiling broth. Repeat with remaining beef mixture.
• Stir potatoes, carrots, and celery into the broth. Cover and simmer until meatballs and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in zucchini and cabbage. Cover and simmer until cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes.
• Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and garnish with avocado and 1/4 cup cilantro.

MAMA MARONI'S MEATBALLS AND SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Mix together all meatball ingredients. If mixture seems too loose, add more breadcrumbs. (Mixture will be very moist.).
• Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
• Roll meatballs into golfball sized balls.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes.
• While meatballs are baking, heat olive oil over medium heat.
• Saute onions until soft. Add garlic and saute until onions start to brown.
• Add Tomatoes, salt and pepper. Add some red pepper flakes if desired. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Adjust seasonings.
• Stir in basil.
• I like to add the meatballs to the finished sauce so that the flavors can meld.
• If you are using the meatballs only for sandwiches, you can halve the sauce recipe, but if you want sauce for pasta, use full recipe.

OLD SCHOOL TOMATO SAUCE WITH MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Start the sauce:.
• Put oil in bottom of pre-heated sauce pot and let it heat up over medium heat. A nice heavy pot is best.
• Add the onion, green pepper, bay leaves,parsley and red pepper flakes and saute for for about 5 minutes or until the
• onion is translucent.
• Add the garlic and saute another minute or two, don't let the garlic brown.
• Add the first can of tomato sauce.
• Place the 2 cans of stewed tomatoes in a food processor and blend till finely pureed, add them to the pot.
• Add the other three cans of sauce. I go slowly so that the sauce can slowly come to temperature without having to have the heat too high and risk burning it.
• Add the can of diced tomatoes at the end.
• Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper.
• Turn heat to low and keep your eye on the pot while you prepare the meatballs. Stir occassionally. Don't let it burn.
• For the Meatballs:.
• Mix all the meatball ingredients together.
• I usually let the milk sit on the breadcrumbs for a few minutes to moisten them before I start combining the mixture together.
• They should be wet, don't panic, I let the mixture sit for about 10-15 minutes before I start forming the meatballs and it firms up a bit.
• Form them into balls and place as many as you can into a glass pie plate without touching. I have two pie plates going.
• Place the plate into your microwave, yes the microwave, and cook on high for 4 minutes. Grandma didn't do them this way, but they turn out great and it saves a ton of time and it's a whole lot less mess.
• Very carefully remove the pie plate from the oven and slide the contents into your simmering pot of sauce. No, I do not drain any of the fat. Darn stuff tastes great!
• Turn the heat up to about medium while you are adding the meatballs.
• Have your next pie plate of meatballs ready to go into the microwave and repeat process until you are out of meat. I usually get 3-4 plates, depends on how big you like your meatballs.
• Once everything is in the pot and is bubbling turn the heat back down to low and.
• Continue to very gently stir your pot of sauce with meatballs every now and then, you don't want to burn your sauce but you don't want to break up the meatballs either.
• Let simmer together for at least one hour. Longer won't hurt. Your entire neighborhood will smell amazing.
• Serve over your favorite pasta, or in your favorite recipe.
• I store them seperately, keep some in the fridge for another day and put the rest of the sauce in jars in the freezer. I freeze the meatballs individually and then store in bags. If you want to make more meatballs and freeze them before cooking, you can. Just place on a cookie sheet and freeze, then place in gallon size freezer bags. That way the next time you make the sauce it can be done and ready to eat in no time.

CLASSIC SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Tomato Sauce:
• Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-low. Cook garlic, stirring occasionally, until a few pieces are golden brown around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add basil sprigs and stir to wilt. Add tomatoes, crushing with your hands as you go, and their juices; season with salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high; bring mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat to maintain a very gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened and flavors have concentrated, 60-75 minutes.
• Meatballs and assembly:
• Run bread under cold running water until completely soaked. Firmly wring out to expel as much water as possible. Finely chop, then mix in a large bowl with eggs, garlic, ricotta, prosciutto, parsley, and 1/3 cup Parmesan.
• Finely grind fennel seeds in spice mill or with mortar and pestle; add to bread mixture along with oregano, nutmeg, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and 1 1/4 tsp. salt. Mix well (it should resemble a coarse, wet paste). Add beef and break up into small pieces (a couple of forks work well). Mix gently with your hands until smooth and ingredients are evenly incorporated; be careful not to overmix.
• Lightly oil your hands. Working one at a time, scoop out portions of meat mixture with a 1/4-cup measuring cup; roll gently between your hands into balls. Arrange on a rimmed baking sheet.
• This is the point where you should get the sauce reheating, if needed, so it's warm by the time you add the meatballs.
• Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium. Add half of the meatballs and cook, turning and rolling occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Add meatballs to warm sauce. Repeat with remaining 1 Tbsp. oil and remaining meatballs.
• Cook meatballs in sauce (they should be mostly submerged) at a gentle simmer, carefully scraping bottom of pot and adding a splash of water if sauce begins to stick, until meatballs are cooked through and tender and sauce tastes rich and meaty, 40-50 minutes.
• Transfer meatballs to a clean baking sheet; cover with foil to keep warm. Pluck out and discard basil from sauce. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to break up any large pieces of tomato and smooth out sauce. Transfer 2 cups sauce to a small bowl; set aside for serving.
• Cook spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Using tongs, transfer to pot with sauce. Gently stir, adding pasta cooking liquid by the tablespoonful as needed, until sauce coats pasta. Transfer spaghetti to a serving dish and top with meatballs and 1 cup reserved sauce. Sprinkle with more Parmesan and serve with some basil (if using) and remaining sauce alongside for topping.
• Do Ahead:
• Sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill. Meatballs can be formed 1 day ahead; cover and chill. Meatballs can be cooked in sauce 3 days ahead; let cool, then cover and chill.