I love preparing meatballs using a blend of ground pork, ground beef and ground veal when I prepare meatballs and polpette. I also prefer frying the meatballs to baking-it's a totally different product when you fry the meatballs!
I'll usually add a little extra beef to the ratio and I love a lot of grated parmesan cheese and Italian parsley in my meatballs and polpette.
Meatballs & Polpette
My uncle Peanie used to tell us a great story about when he and my Uncle Vic were kids, they would sneak into Grandma's kitchen and fill their pockets with warm, greasy polpette to snack on ... polpette are football shaped, fried meatballs with no sauce.
There would usually be a plate stacked with polpette on the counter and the round meatballs would be simmering in the tomato sauce for lunch.
Nowadays, people make baked, 'meatballs' with ground turkey, bison, lamb, chicken and even ground salmon.
Obviously salmon or chicken is healthier than beef.
I like all of these proteins but it's simply not the same as a fried, Italian meatball with beef, veal and pork.
Meatloaf
Prep Time: 30 min
Cooking Time: 40 min
Yield: 8 portions
Ingredients
3 oz. Olive oil
1/2 Cup. Spanish onion, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
t.t. Black pepper
1/4 Cup. Breadcrumbs (I like Progresso Italian style)
2 ea Eggs
3 Tbsp. Tomato paste
2 lbs Meatloaf blend (ground beef, veal, pork)
3 Tbsp Italian parsley, chopped
1/4 Cup. Parmesan cheese, grated
How to Prepare Meatballs
Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the onions and garlic and cook until tender, about 4 minutes; cool.
Place the blend of ground veal, beef and pork into a mixing bowl.
Step 2
Add all of the ingredients into the mixing bowl, mix until incorporated. Take one spoonful & fry it in oil to taste. Add more seasoning if desired. Form small balls with meat mixture & place onto a sheet pan lined with parchment.
Step 3
Heat a sauce pot of oil to 350°F and place the meatballs into the hot oil (4 or 5 at a time to retain the heat of the oil).
Fry the meatballs in batches, taking the browned meatballs out with a slotted spoon and placing onto a plate with paper towel to absorb extra oil.
notes:
Allow the oil to reheat for a minute after each batch.
You may need to add oil, depending on how many meatball recipes you are preparing.
If the oil seems too hot, lower the temperature to avoid the oil from boiling over.
Be careful, the oil is very hot so work cautiously.
You can enjoy as is or add to tomato sauce.
