THE MEATBALL

Cooking with KAVU Ep. 4 | Hosted by: Nick Greece

By KAVU

February 1^st, 2022

The meatball!

A glorious treat that newer cooks can easily approach and pull off with gusto. Many nations claim the meatball as their own but growing up in Long Island only one type of meatball reigns supreme—the Italian meatball. I received a recipe from a friend who got it from his Italian grandmother, affectionately named Nona…first rule of meatballs, if it comes from a grandmother named Nona, you have an ace up your sleeve. While spaghetti and meatballs are a distinctly American dish the origin of the meatball is up for debate. Most postulate that the meatball came from Kofte, also a delicious item which will be covered in a future Cooking with KAVU episodes, originating in the Persian culinary dishes a long time ago. Come ride along as we utilize as many camera angles as we can to serve up the a spicy meatball recipe that will have your taste buds running for the fresh parm!

Step 1.

Tear white bread and add milk. Let sit until all milk is absorbed and bread essentially disintegrates

Step 2.

In a large bowl mix beef, veal, and eggs

Step 3.

Add in breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, salt, garlic, pepper, milk with white bread, and Romano cheese. Mix with hands but don’t overwork the meatballs, they’ll get tough.

Step 4.

Cover mixture and refrigerate for 1 hour to firm up then roll into meatballs. Refrigerate meatballs for another 30 minutes before cooking.

Step 5.

Cook meatballs over medium heat. 3-4 minutes per side. Don’t fully cook them as they will finish cooking in red sauce when you serve. This is when you can freeze them as well.