Recipe(tried): Italian Meatballs

Italian Meatballs

This is from Marcella Hazan's Classic Italian Cooking.

1 slice white bread, crusts removed
1/3 cup milk
1 lb lean ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
pinch nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper to taste
plain bread crumbs
oil

Heat bread and milk in a small saucepan (don't let it boil). Mash the bread up in the milk with a fork. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix together the beef, egg, parsley, garlic, salt, cheese, nutmeg, and pepper. (The easiest way is with your hands). When the milk/bread mixture is cool, mix that in.

Form into 1 inch balls. Roll in the bread crumbs.

Choose a frying pan large enough to contain all the meatballs. Pour in oil so that it comes up the sides of the pan about 1/4 inch. Brown the meatballs well on all sides. Drain the oil from the pan.

At the this stage, the Hazan recipe adds canned plum tomatoes and spices to the meatballs, to be served by themselves as a main dish.

However, I combine my meatballs with spaghetti sauce (homemade is great, commercial works too), and simmer for about another 20 minutes, then serve over spaghetti.