Meatballs the Marcella Hazan Way

Different from the meatball recipe I posted here, but just as delicious! In fact, I made them two weeks in a row!

Meatballs with Capanelle. Photo by Bruce Barone.

Ingredients (serves four)

1/3 cup milk
1 slice firm, fine-quality white bread, crust removed
1 pound lean beef, ground (I used ground turkey.)
1 tablespoon finely chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 egg
A tiny pinch of nutmeg or marjoram
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Vegetable oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper, 3 to 4 twists of the mill
Fine, dry unflavored bread crumbs
1 cup canned Italian tomatoes, cut up, with their juice (I made a simple tomato sauce.)

Directions

1. Put the mil and the bread in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mash the bread with a fork and blend it uniformly into the milk. Set aside and let cool before proceeding with the next step.
2. In a mixing bowl put the chopped meat, onion, parsley, egg, nutmeg or marjoram, grated Parmesan, 1 tablespoon of oil, the bread and mil mush, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the pepper. Mix everything thoroughly but gently by hand.
3. Gently, without squeezing, shape the mixture into small round balls, about 1 inch in diameter. Roll the meatballs lightly in the bread crumbs.
4. Choose a skillet large enough to hold all the meatballs in a single layer, with a cover. Pour in oil until it is 1/4 inch deep. Turn on the heat to medium high, and when the oil is quite hot slip in the meatballs (Sliding them in with a broad spatula is a good way of doing it. Dropping them in will splatter hot oil over you and your kitchen floor.) Brown the meatballs on all side, turning them carefully so that they don't break up or stick to the pan.
5. When well browned turn off the heat, tip the pan slightly, and remove as much of the fat that floats to the surface as you can with a spoon. Turn on the heat to medium, add the chopped tomatoes (I added a simple sauce I made with olive oil, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste.) with the juice and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and turn the meatballs over once or twice with care, so that they don't break up. Cover the skillet and cook until the tomato sauce has thickened, about 25 minutes. While cooking , turn the meatballs over from time to time, and taste for salt.

~recipe from The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan

And what's better than a meatball sandwich the next day!

Meatball Sandwich. Photo by Bruce Barone.

And what about a meatball pizza the day after!

Meatball Pizza. Photo by Bruce Barone.

Thank You, Marcella!

Buon Appetito!