00:00This recipe is my ultimate baseline meatball recipe.
00:05All you do is mix everything in a bowl,
00:08form the meatballs,
00:09and then we're actually gonna roast these in the oven
00:11before we braise them in tomato sauce,
00:13rather than frying.
00:17So we have bread.
00:19It all starts with the bread.
00:21We have a beautiful loaf of bread here,
00:23and the first thing we're gonna do is take the crust off.
00:25We're using a nice crusty loaf of artisan bread.
00:28The better the bread, the better the meatballs.
00:30So the goal is to use day-old bread.
00:32We want it to be a little bit stale,
00:34because then it's gonna absorb more of the liquids
00:37that are in the recipe.
00:40Cut the sides off.
00:42We don't really want the crust because it's very dry,
00:44and it'll change the texture of the meatballs.
00:47Ideal ratio for this recipe is two pounds of meat
00:50and four cups of bread.
00:51So we have our bread broken down,
00:53and now we're gonna add our dairy.
00:55Today we're using the milk.
00:56If you don't even have dairy, just use water.
00:59It's all good.
00:59We just wanna moisten the day-old bread.
01:02We are making what's called a panade.
01:04It's the bread component of a meatball,
01:06and it's everything.
01:08So the panade is all about texture and moisture.
01:12Keeps that meatball super juicy and super tender.
01:15Now we just give it a little stir,
01:18and we are gonna let this sit for at least 20 minutes.
01:21So while that bread is soaking,
01:23we're gonna get the rest of our meatball mix ready.
01:25So we're gonna start by cutting an onion.
01:28We're gonna mince these onions very finely.
01:30We don't want any giant chunks of onions in the meatballs.
01:32We wanna make sure the onions cook all the way through
01:35in the short time that the meatballs are gonna be in the oven.
01:37We have one pound of beef.
01:39We have one pound of pork.
01:41I like a 50-50 blend of beef and pork.
01:43The pork has so much delicious fat.
01:47For the beef, we use an 80-20 blend.
01:49It works.
01:50It's accessible.
01:52It's just the perfect blend of fat and meat.
01:54So now we're gonna season it with a little bit of salt
01:57and some black pepper.
02:01So we have two eggs and the eggs play a vital role here.
02:05They are the binding agent.
02:07That's what's gonna help these meatballs stay as a ball
02:10and not fall apart.
02:12A little bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano.
02:14Tiny bit of basic tomato sauce.
02:17And that is it.
02:19So at this point, we're gonna mix all of these ingredients together.
02:22And we're gonna thoroughly mix this.
02:25We want a very homogenous mixture here.
02:28At this point, our bread's been soaking for at least 20 minutes.
02:32So I'm squeezing the bread out and keeping that extra milk.
02:35I've been making meatballs for 20 years, but the more meatballs that I make,
02:40the more I realize that I don't think you actually can overmix them.
02:44I think it's an old wives' tale.
02:46So it's moist, it's homogenous, it's ready to go.
02:49We have a tray lined with a little bit of parchment paper.
02:53And we're gonna drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil.
02:56You can use a scoop, you can use a spoon, or you can just grab.
03:00I like the meatballs to be around the same size so that they bake evenly.
03:06I like the meatballs to be on the uglier side.
03:09So I don't spend so much time doing this to make them exactly perfect spheres.
03:17It's a rustic dish.
03:19It should look handmade.
03:22It should be a little bit craggly and ugly.
03:25We don't really care about over mixing them, but we do care about over compressing.
03:30Otherwise, you'll end up with a much more dense meatball.
03:33And we want them to be so tender that they are just almost falling apart.
03:39Our meatballs are formed.
03:41Our oven is preheated to 450 degrees.
03:44We're gonna bake them for 20 to 25 minutes.
03:47While the meatballs are roasting in the oven, we're gonna make our basic tomato sauce.
03:54After we roast our meatballs, we're gonna braise them in tomato sauce.
03:58So this is a very basic, simple tomato sauce.
04:01These are whole peeled tomatoes.
04:03And we're gonna mill them in a food mill.
04:05If you don't have a food mill, you can either pulse them with an immersion blender,
04:10or you can crush them by hand.
04:12So we're using Bianco Di Napoli whole peeled tomatoes.
04:16It's what I serve my kids.
04:17It's organic.
04:18They're great tomatoes.
04:19This is going to pass the whole peeled tomatoes through this plate here with little tiny holes.
04:25That is going to break down the whole peeled tomatoes into a tomato puree.
04:29The tomato sauce adds another layer of complexity and moisture.
04:34We like a very simple, basic tomato sauce recipe.
04:38It's all about the meatball.
04:39And we try to complement something as perfect as this meatball with something very simple and delicate.
04:48Make sure you scrape the bottom.
04:53We've milled our tomatoes.
04:54Now it's time to cook the sauce.
04:58All right, so we have a Dutch oven here.
05:00We are going to start with some extra virgin olive oil.
05:05Just enough to coat the bottom.
05:07And then we're gonna add half of a small onion.
05:11And we're gonna saute this nice and slowly.
05:14We're not gonna get this pan ripping hot.
05:17We can be gentle.
05:19We don't need to deeply caramelize these onions.
05:23We just want to cook these onions until they're translucent.
05:26And just starting to take color.
05:28But we don't want that much color on them.
05:29So our onions are translucent.
05:31We're ready to add the tomatoes carefully.
05:37And a little pinch of salt.
05:40And we're gonna slowly bring this up to temperature.
05:43That's it.
05:44It's kind of simple.
05:45Meatballs are done!
05:48So we're gonna drop the meatballs in the sauce.
05:51These are looking nice and caramelized.
05:53The crispy layer on the outside.
05:55It's gonna be super tender on the inside.
05:57These are gonna braise in this tomato sauce for a minimum of 20 minutes.
06:02Maximum of 45 minutes.
06:05If you let these cook in the tomato sauce too long,
06:08they are so light and tender that they may begin to fall apart.
06:12They're gonna soak up some of that tomato.
06:14All the pork fat's gonna infuse into the tomato sauce.
06:19It's gonna be delicious.
06:20We don't want to overdo it.
06:21Nice gentle simmer.
06:23And this tomato sauce is at the perfect viscosity.
06:26Meaning I don't want any more liquid to evaporate.
06:30So I'm gonna put the top on.
06:32Turn it down just a touch.
06:35And let it simmer for 20 minutes.
06:39Take a look at that.
06:41Looking good.
06:42And I'm getting hungry.
06:44The sauce is nice and thick.
06:46But not super concentrated.
06:50It's the perfect moisture balance.
06:53And a generous amount of Parmigiano Reggiano.
06:58Always finish with some really good extra virgin olive oil.
07:08That's a good meatball.
07:09It just melts in your mouth.
07:11Firm enough to hold together as a meatball.
07:14But so light and tender.
07:16Teeth just sink right into it.
07:19The tomatoes are so sweet.
07:21With gentle acidity.
07:22It's the perfect complement to the meatball.
07:26And so these meatballs are so tender.
07:28Because we added all of that great bread soaked in milk.
07:31So these meatballs are all about the bread.
07:34That's what makes them so light and tender.
07:37There's probably no dish that is more synonymous with Italian American food than meatballs.
07:44It brings you back to your childhood.
07:45So once your meatball mix is made.
07:47You just throw them in the oven.
07:49And roast away.
07:51No frying.
07:51No cleaning up the splatters of oil.
07:54And definitely no standing over the stove.
07:56I like meatballs.
07:57Balls of meat.
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