A Tale of Two Sauces, Part 1.5: Meatballs

During the shopping trip described in my last post, I expressed that my entry into the grocery store dynamically shifted my sauce plans from meatless to meat-full. At the same time, I made the brilliant decision to make meatballs to go along with the meat sauce. The creation of these delectable carnivorous spheres would mark the first time in a while (years, perhaps) where the basis for my homemade meatballs would not be turkey, so I was determined to do it right. You know; go meaty or go home. As you may notice, I used many of the same ingredients across the three recipes, so none of the contents of the individual packages of meat went to waste… like there would have been any chance of than happening anyway.

These meatballs require the following ingredients:

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef

• ½ pound ground pork

• ¼ pound italian sausage

• ¾ pound ground venison

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 eggs

• 1.5 cup freshly grated Parmesean cheese

• ¼ cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

• 1 cup of water

• salt and ground black pepper to taste

• 2 cups Italian bread crumbs

• olive oil

 

Directions:

Combine meats in a large bowl.

Blend garlic, eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper, and bread crumbs into meat mixture.

Slowly add the water 1/2 cup at a time. The mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape if rolled into meatballs.

Shape into meatballs.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet.and fry the meatballs in batches, leaving enough room to turn them without squashing them into eachother. When the meatball is very brown all the way around, and slightly crisp, remove from the heat and drain on a paper towel.

Unfortunately, I stopped taking pictures of the process as I was attempting to multitask. My next step was to place the meatballs in the already-meaty marinara sauce, which I then allowed to simmer for another hour or so.

This is a simple and satisfying recipe that results in  fork-tender, and full-flavored meatballs, which are surprisingly light and – dare I say – fluffy, in the way that only lovingly hand-crafted meatballs can be.