Nan's Meatballs
The one and only: Nan’s Meatballs.
Ingredients
1.25lbs ground chuck (85/15 or similar)
.25lbs ground 90/10
2 whole eggs
1Tbsp Chopped Italian Parsley
1Tbsp Chopped Basil
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 french baguette, torn into 1 inch pieces and dried
2 cups breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Whole Milk (to soak the bread in)
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Onion Powder
Canola Oil
Equipment
large frying pan
large mixing bowl
smaller mixing bowl or baking dish to soak the bread in
parchment paper or wax paper to lay the raw meatballs on
half sheet rack
Prep
Tear your bread into 1 inch chunks
Leave the bread out to dry so it becomes dried out. You can do this the day before. Alternatively, you can set your oven to 200º F and lay the torn bread in a single layer on a sheet pan. Let it bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Shuffle the pieces around and bake for another 10 minutes. They should feel completely dried out, almost like a crouton.
Using a container large enough to fit the torn bread in a single layer across the bottom, fill it with enough milk to almost fully submerge the bread. Add the torn bread chunks to the milk and let them rehydrate while you’re preparing the rest of the ingredients. They should be completely soft / mushy when they’re ready to be used.
Break your ground meat up, combine the two and gently mix so they’re evenly distributed.
Mince your parsley
Mince your basil
Mince your garlic
Lightly beat your eggs
Mixing the Meat
Combine the meat, eggs, half the parsley, half the basil, garlic and half the breadcrumbs.
For the soaked bread, pick the pieces up and wring them out with your hands to remove the milk.
Add the wrung bread to the ingredients in the mixing bowl
Gently mix the ingredients with your hands, just enough so that they start to combine.
Add the rest of the parsley, basil, breadcrumbs and half of your intended seasoning.
Gently mix again
Add the rest of your seasoning
Gently mix until fully combined
You should see an even distribution of bread, breadcrumbs, meat and herbs. If you see large lumps of any of those, try to break them up so it’s all even throughout the mixture.
Forming the Meatballs
You’re shooting for a ball that is just about 2.5” in diameter. With this exact amount of meat and ingredients, you should get right around 24 individual meatballs. You can use gloves if you have them, if not, put a few drops of water on your hands, just to wet the surface which helps the meat not stick to your hands. Grab a small handful of meat and being to roll the meat into a ball using your flat palms. You won’t need much pressure to form the shape as the moisture already inside should help things bind together. After a few rolls with your hand, the shape should start to form. To finish the shape, change your hands into a cupped shape and continue rolling. When you’re done, you should have a smooth, round ball. Repeat until you’ve formed all of the meat.
Cooking Directions
Heat enough canola oil in the frying pan to cover the bottom by a 1/2 inch
When shimmering, add the meatballs to the pan. You may have to cook them in batches.
Let them cook on one side for 2-3 minutes or until nicely browned
Turn them over and cook the other side for another 2 minutes or until browned
Once both sides have been browned, you can gently shake the pan to roll them around in the oil, or just use a spoon to keep them turning until fully browned.
I try to shoot for a medium-well temperature when finished so they don’t dry out.
If you’re adding them to a sauce, you can cook them for a shorter time since the hot sauce will continue cooking them.
Once fully browned, transfer to the half sheet rack to drain and cool.
Repeat until all the meatballs are cooked.
To store, you can keep them in an airtight container or saran wrapped dish. I put a paper towel underneath them to help soak up any remaining oil.