Meatballs

That one word says it all.  Meatballs.  The other day when I asked Mrs. CB what she would like for dinner, she said, “Meatballs.”  And when Mrs. CB wants Meatballs, she gets Meatballs.  So I decided that it was about time for me to write up my Meatball Recipe and share it.

There’s a bit more to it than just taking out some hamburger and rolling little hunks of it into balls.  Well, that would work, but there wouldn’t be much flavor, or texture.  You can make Meatballs out of beef or pork or some combination.  Some people even make them out of ground turkey but Cheap Bastid might consider that a sacrilege.  But if that “floats your boat”, have at it.

So here’s the quick secret I learned about meatballs—brown them in a skillet but only cook them about half way through.  Finish cooking them at a simmer in sauce.  They’ll be moist and tasty.  If you cook them all the way through in the skillet, they’ll be dry.

(And, before I get to the recipe, I have to apologize for not getting photos of a couple of steps in this recipe.  I got busy putting the meat in the bowl and dumping in the rest of the ingredients and forgot to pick up the camera).

Recipe: Meatballs

Summary: Tasty, easy, moist meatballs.

Ingredients

•  1 lb ground meat (beef, pork, sausage, turkey—or a blend)
•  ½ cup bread crumbs (panko, homemade, crushed crackers)
•  1 egg
•  ¼ cup finely diced onion
•  1 tbsp fennel seed
•  Crushed red pepper
•  Cumin
•  Salt (regular, Kosher, Sea)
•  Garlic granulated or finely minced fresh
•  28 can Spaghetti sauce
•  1 lb long spaghetti

Instructions

• Get your stuff out. You’ll need a skillet and a spaghetti pot (if you’re making spaghetti and meatballs).
• Get out a medium sized bowl and a cutting board and knife. Get out all your ingredients and have them ready. (I had to wait a bit because I forgot about bread crumbs and had to make some—dry a couple of slices of bread out in a 200 degree oven for about 20 minutes then pulverize them).

I used ¾ lb 80% lean ground beef—more than enough for 2 people. Add the onion along with the fennel, crushed red pepper, cumin and salt. How much? Enough. The fennel gives you an Italian sausage taste as does the crushed red pepper (use about a teaspoon of each, taste and adjust).

• Add cumin and salt and garlic, again to taste.
• Now add the egg and then start adding the bread crumbs as a binder and mix gently with your fingertips. You want it moist but not “glumpy-wet”. If it’s too wet, add some more bread crumbs until you get a nice consistency.
• Now, divide your meat into portions. You’re going to make meatballs that are just a bit bigger than a golf ball. You can make them bigger if you want too, they’re your meatballs. The meatballs don’t have to be all exactly the same size, but keep it close—just “weigh” them with your fingertips, you’ll be able to tell.

• Gently roll the meat between your fingers until they turn into balls—you don’t really want to compress the meat too much—keep them fairly “loose”.
• Now it’s time to turn your skillet on to medium, let it warm up a bit and squirt a tablespoon or so of oil into the pan.
• Lay the meatballs into the pan with a bit of separation between each.

• You’re going to brown the meatballs, not cook them all the way through. Turn them every couple of minutes until they’re pretty much browned all over. This is going to take about 8 minutes.
• Turn the heat down on the skillet to low and then add the sauce. Now would be a good time to add some flavor with garlic, basil, a bit more salt and oregano.
• Get the liquid to a gentle simmer, cover and let it finish for as long as it takes to cook your pasta.
• Prep and cook your pasta to a nice al dente. Then plate everything and enjoy some really tasty and succulent meatballs.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

Culinary tradition: Italian

My rating 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 1 review(s)

You don’t have to make spaghetti and meatballs.  I use these meatballs on “Guinea Grinders” (http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/guinea-grinder-recipe/).  When I do that, I just brown up the meatballs to about medium and cut each ball in half when I put it down on the grinder.  Do the same thing if you want to do a meatball pizza.  And, some people love to make double-sized meatballs, coat them with sauce and cheese and dig in with some good bread to complete the feast.

And a quick note on sauce—I use canned Hunts from my grocery store or the dollar store.  Yep, it’s a buck which is about 1/3 of what a jarred sauce cost.  More importantly, I like the taste better.  There’s a lot less sugar and more tomato flavor.  I’m going to add seasonings to it anyway so why do I want to spend $3 or more for something that’s loaded with sugar but has some hotshot chef’s name and picture on it?

The Cheap Bastid Test:  I’m getting my hamburger for about $2.60 lb.  The sauce was $1.  The pasta is about $1 and the other ingredients about $.50.  So for $5.10 I made a big dinner for the 2 of us with more than enough leftovers for lunch.  That’s pretty cheap eating.

That’s the Cheap Bastid Way:  Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!