Chef John’s Italian Meatballs

Description

Homemade meatballs are a very easy to make, and since we skip the very messy step of pan-frying these before they hit the sauce, it becomes downright simple. Here I use a standard half-beef/half-pork mixture. You can substitute water or beef broth for the milk, if preferred.

Ingredients

  • ⅓ cup plain bread crumbs
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ bunch fresh parsley, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
  2. Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes.
  3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; stir in onion. Cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent
  4. about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking and stirring until onion is very tender
  5. about 15 minutes more.
  6. Gently stir beef and pork together in a large bowl (do not overmix). Stir onions
  7. bread crumb mixture
  8. eggs
  9. parsley
  10. garlic
  11. salt
  12. black pepper
  13. red pepper flakes
  14. Italian herb seasoning
  15. and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.
  16. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
  17. Using wet hands
  18. form meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Arrange onto prepared baking sheet.
  19. Bake in the preheated oven until browned and cooked through
  20. 15 to 20 minutes.

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 35 mins

Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins

Servings: 30

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