Italian Meat Balls

I think I've mentioned it before...but if not, I married into an Italian family. This has brought blessings to my life in so many ways! One is a great meat ball recipe. Now any good Italian Granny will tell you that the secret to great Italian meat balls is that there's no real recipe. Each different family has their own "take" on it . Well I think DH side has been in America for 2 or 3 generations now and this is the recipe I use....it's really good, but one thing you should know is that meatballs really are a personal thing. So use this recipe as a start point only. Like DH's Mom likes to use the pre seasoned bread crumbs....but since I grind my own I do not. Adjust them to what makes your family happy, make them your own :) There are two secrets that make these great. One: You MUST try at least one time to fry them. You can roll them then bake in the oven, that will get them cooked (and is better if you need to mass produce them say for a party or for freezing) but frying them brings in so much more flavor. Two: SAVE your fry oil from batch to batch. Just strain it into a glass jar and chill. Each time the oil will pick up more flavor and impart this goodness to your meatballs and whatever sauce you cook them in. We serve this as spaghetti and meatballs the first night then I am always sure to make enough to have meatball hoggies the next evening. Here's the recipe and a few pictures:
Italian Meat Balls
1 lbs ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Combine above until mixed. Shape into golf ball sized. Fry in oil till done.


You want the meat balls to get very dark and caramelized in the pan. Then add to sauce and simmer 1 to 2 hours, or all day if need be.


Don't worry about the darkness of the meatballs...in fact you may think it's all wrong, but when they simmer in the sauce, the acidity of the tomatoes takes this caramelization off the meat balls and it all blends into the sauce and makes it taste out of this world!

You can get away with using any cheapo canned spaghetti sauce this way as it will pick up all this good flavor. Your very first batch just add any oil to the pan to keep them from sticking, about an inches worth. Remember to strain and keep that oil for the next time!