There’s something to be said for a good meatball. You start with ground beef which by itself is nothing special, until you transform it with flavorful ingredients. Though meatballs take a bit more time than say a hamburger patty, you will be rewarded in the end. I was watching a Bobby Flay Throwdown episode one afternoon and the challenge of the day was meatballs and spaghetti one of my favorite dishes. So I dropped whatever chore I was doing and plopped down on my big comfy chair and watched the entire show.
Mike Maroni was Bobby’s opponent. Maroni is noted for his grandma’s famous meatball recipe. Bobby makes some terrific food and typically wins the Throwdown but in this case, Mike defeated Bobby. I had to have that recipe. The original recipe calls for ground chuck and a lot more cheese, twice as much cheese! I adapted the recipe and used ground sirloin which is leaner, and less cheese but go ahead and use ground chuck and all of the cheese if you desire.
With 3 ounces of cheese, 3 eggs and breadcrumbs the meat mixture is quite rich and makes for a very tender meatball.
Maroni bakes his meatballs on a sheet pan rather than browning in a skillet which is more time consuming. I line a 16 3/4 x 12 inch jelly roll pan with heavy duty foil for easy clean up.
Maroni’s Meatballs (my variation)
About 18 meatballs
Ingredients
1 pound ground sirloin or ground chuck
1/2 cup + breadcrumbs
1/4 c milk
3 large eggs
2 ounces finely grated Pecorino Romano (about 1/2 cup)
1 ounce finely grated Parmigiano Regianno (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 c finely minced onion
3 medium garlic cloves
4 tablespoons finely chopped basil
4 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a large baking pan with heavy duty foil.
In a large bowl gently break apart the ground sirloin with a fork. Add all other ingredients and mix lightly (I use disposable gloves) just until combined. You may add more breadcrumbs if you feel the mixture is too soft however it should not be too firm or the meatballs will be dense and dry. Very gently (do not pack) form into 18 meatballs, approximately the size of a golf ball. Place meatballs on prepared baking pan so they do not touch one another. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes.
Heat your favorite tomato sauce and add meatballs to the pan and simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve on spaghetti noodles with extra cheese.
If I’m not feeding a crowd, I freeze the leftover meatballs in plastic containers with waxed paper between each layer. Defrost in the refrigerator the morning you plan to have them for dinner then simmer the meatballs in tomato sauce to warm up.