Posted on 03/16/2015 12:04:27 PM PDT by ken5050
Meatballs and spaghetti, with a simple marinara sauce, is one of life's greatest comfort foods. I consider myself a serious cook, and I've been making the dish for years, with a few tweaks along the way. Everyone loves it...never had a complaint. But for such a simple dish, there seems to be a near infinite number of variations and possibilities. Lots of FReepers are into food, so I thought I'd throw it open for discussion (and a brief respite from all things Hillary all the time)
Read ltr.
Then I guess you do a smashburger with it.
I've watched some videos of people grinding with the Kitchen Aid attachment. It looks so much fresher and tasty.
The pasta attachment looks appealing, too, but not for me. If I had my young family again, it would have been such a luxury to have what I have now for cooking. Then I might buy more extras.
1 1/2 inch in diameter
Edible in 3-4 bites.
Unless you stuff it with egg and salami, then 5 - 6 bites.
Important! Do not fry or bake meatballs first. Drop into simmering sauce and stir very gently now and again.
Now, if I make Swedish meatballs, I add pork but I don't think it is necessary for Italian meatballs.
I use a 93-7% lean sirloin. Add to that an egg, some herbs of provence garlic, dried minced onions, grated cheese parsley, Italian bread crumbs, seasoning salt, a shot of Worchester. Then mold into balls and sautee’ in a fry pan til brown and crusty.
I usually just open a jar of Barilla sauce and then doctor it up with red wine, a little olive oil, black olives and then some black olive juice. I get that going and then simmer the meatballs in the sauce for a couple of hours.
I just drop them in the cooking sauce raw because the pre cooking is too much work and they actually come together better when cooked totally in the sauce. Same with Italian sausage(turkey).
Walmart ground meat is the worst of all, IMO. Their ground beef sometimes loses almost half is original size after cooking.
Worse ... IIRC the brand was Ragu. For a mass market bottled sauce Prego isn’t too bad. Ragu reminds me of ketchup.
gone
I inherited a sauce and a meat ball recipe via a highly indirect route (brother’s ex-fiance’s Italian mother) which are both authentic and unbelievably good. The cooking aroma alone is worth all the effort. No sugar added.
Makes sense, I think I will try it.
1 1/2# gr chuck
1/4-1/2 cup grated onion
3/4 tube Ritz cracker crumbs
1 egg
1/2-3/4-1 cup of milk (different days/different amounts)
1 1/2 tsp Morton’s Nature’s seasonings
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I only use 2 Tblsp if not for marinara)
Shape, place on cookie sheet & bake @ 325-350 for 20-30 min. Makes about 50+ 1 1/2” size. 12 grandchildren require many meatballs.
I like Basil in my sauce. Secret to any sauce is simmer, simmer, simmer. I use sugar based on what the tomatoes taste like. Sometimes they have a bitter after taste & a bit of sugar can cure that.
Now 80-20 has quite a bit of fat which I want for a good burger but when I brown it and break it up, it often lets off little to no fat (if there is any I tip the pan and spoon it off or sop it up with paper towel(s)). But if I then slow cook it, fat creeps out and there's that orange grease after refrigerating. I try to scrape out as much as I can.
I think my burgers shrink some and I don't want that so you make a good point.
Maybe my taste is off in my older years but I remember getting ground beef, frying it in a patty and eating it as a steak burger with no bun. It was so tasty then. I liked it with a little bite of raw onion, maybe some Worcestershire (which I don't llike much in cooking), A-1 steak sauce I haven't bought in years, or just plain.
I had some roast a few years back and was so delicious I couldn't believe it. It was bought directly from a farmer. But they could have used prime rib and cooked it like a pot roast. Whatever, I wish I could buy a half of beef but I wouldn't use it up fast enough.
---Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F.
---Place the beef into a mixing bowl, and season with salt, onion*, gr pepper*(* I have blended onion/gr pepper into fine bits...started with meatloaf recipe by blending onion, celery, green pepper..really magnifies flavors) garlic salt, Italian seasoning, oregano, red pepper flakes, hot pepper sauce, and Worcestershire sauce; mix well.
--- Add the milk, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs.
---Mix until evenly blended, then form into 1.5-2" meatballs, and place onto a baking sheet.
---Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, 20 to 25 minutes
Marinara sauce ingredients:
2 (14.5 ounce) cans San Marzano tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely diced saute' onion
1/2 cup white wine
---In a food processor place Italian tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped parsley, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.
--- In a large skillet over medium heat saute the finely chopped onion in olive oil for 2 minutes.
---Add the blended tomato sauce and white wine.
--- Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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