Nutrition balance score
Unbalanced
Glycemic Index
35
Low
Nutrition per serving
Calories3447.8 kcal (172%)
Total Fat240.1 g (343%)
Carbs104.3 g (40%)
Sugars53.1 g (59%)
Protein210.7 g (421%)
Sodium6881.4 mg (344%)
Fiber16.5 g (59%)
% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet
Ingredients
0 servings
1 cupwhole milk
full fat ricotta cheese, I have also used cottage cheese and it worked perfectly, surprise, because cottage cheese is perfect!)
½ cupparsley
finely chopped
½ cupgrated parmesan cheese
⅓ cuppanko bread crumbs
I call for panko because this is what I always have on hand and I find them texturally closer to real bread crumbs, but fresh bread crumbs would of course work, too— just avoid the Italian style, too sandy IMO
2eggs
large
2garlic cloves
finely grated or chopped
0.5yellow onion
medium, or red, very finely chopped, you’ll use the other half of the onion for the sauce
2 teaspoonskosher salt
plus more
black pepper
Freshly ground, or crushed red
pepper flakes
1 poundground beef
1 poundground pork
2 tablespoonsolive oil
1.5yellow onions
medium, or red, finely chopped
6garlic cloves
thinly sliced
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
3anchovies
if you want
2 tablespoonstomato paste
if you’ve got it
1 x 22 ouncewhole peeled tomatoes
can
12 ouncesfresh tomatoes
whole if small, halved if medium, chopped if large, these can be cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, whatever tomatoes you have, really
Instructions
Step 1
Serves 6–8
Step 2
1. Letting the ricotta/egg/bread crumb mixture soak for at least 10 minutes. This is essentially the “soak milk in bread” step you’ll find in many meatball recipes, but I don’t like soaking bread in milk. Soaking bread in CHEESE though, yeah, I am FOR that.
Step 3
2. Searing the meatballs in the pot, then making the sauce. I have done them on a sheet pan, and they are fine. They are not bad at all. But they are not brown. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but putting your meatballs on a sheet tray in the oven to “brown” them will steam and potentially overcook by the time they look anything close to “brown”.
Step 4
1. Mix ricotta, parsley, parmesan, bread crumbs, eggs, garlic and onion in a medium bowl. Season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes if you like and let sit for 10 minutes or so (this will hydrate your bread crumbs, which will make the meatballs v tender).
Step 5
2. Add beef and pork and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. I have never had good luck with mixing this with a spoon, so I just get in there with my hands. Feels kind of good, IMO.
Step 6
3. Once everything is well-mixed (it should look like...sausage or something), roll one tiny sacrificial meatball.
Step 7
4. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sacrificial meatball and cook until it’s well browned on all sides and is cooked through. Take it out of the pot and eat it. Does it taste amazing? Salty? Meaty? Tender and juicy without falling apart? Do you want it spicier? Go ahead and adjust seasoning as needed (occasionally I’ll add more salt or decide this is when I want them spicy).
Step 8
NOTE This raw meatball mixture freezes well, so you could always make half now and freeze the rest for later.
Step 9
5. Roll the rest of the mixture into balls about 2-inches in diameter. This is my preference, so if you enjoy a LARGER meatball, then be my beautiful guest. I get roughly 24 meatballs from this mixture, more or less.
Step 10
6. Working in batches, brown the meatballs on all sides. This is not a round meatball contest, it’s a brown meatball contest. Nobody will say “damn, these taste good but I wish they were just...a little rounder?” This will take about 3–4 minutes per batch. They will not be cooked through, that’s fine-- they will finish cooking in the sauce.
Step 11
7. Once the meatballs become browned, transfer them to a large bowl and continue with the rest of the meat. Once they are all browned, congratulate yourself on a job well done and let them hang out while you make the sauce.
Step 12
8. Without wiping out the pot, add onions and garlic to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until they’re translucent and tender but not yet browned, 8–10 minutes. Add anchovies if you’re using them and tomato paste if you have it and stir until the anchovies are melted and the tomato paste has begun to caramelize and turn a darker shade of red, 2–3 minutes.
Step 13
9. Add the fresh tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until they’re burst and jammy, 5 minutes or so. Add the canned tomatoes, fill the can halfway with water, swirl to get all the tomato bits and pour into the pot. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 14
10. Bring to a simmer and adjust for salt, knowing the sauce will reduce a bit and become a bit saltier once you add the meatballs. Add your meatballs and all the juices that have collected at the bottom of the bowl.
Step 15
11. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the meatballs in the sauce (uncovered) until the sauce is thickened and impossibly delicious and the meatballs are cooked through and perfectly tender, 30–40 minutes.
Step 16
be sure to just PLOP the meatballs directly into the extremely hot tomato sauce, just to make sure to get as much of the sauce in as many place as possible.
Step 17
it’s not a bowl, it’s an unused paella pan (unused no longer!).
Notes
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0 disliked
Kid-friendly
Makes leftovers
One-dish
Delicious
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