MY-MY MEATBALLS

Chances of setting off a fire alarm is slightly high, due to the searing of meatballs. Turn on the fan, open an window.

*Recipe adapted from Alison Roman

Ingredients

Yield: 6-8 servings

For the meatballs
1 cup whole milk, full fat ricotta cheese

½ cup finely chopped parsley

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

⅓ cup panko bread crumbs

2 large eggs

3-5 garlic cloves, finely grated or chopped

½ medium yellow or red onion, very finely chopped (you’ll use the other half of the onion for the sauce)

2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more

Freshly ground black pepper and/or crushed red pepper flakes

2 pounds ground beef

2 tablespoons olive oil

For the sauce
1 ½ medium yellow or red onions, finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper

A few anchovies or couple of dashes of fish sauce, if you want

2–3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

12–16 ounces fresh tomatoes, chopped (2 large tomatoes)

Vegetable or Beef Stock

Directions

For the meatballs
Step One
Mix ricotta, parsley, parmesan, bread crumbs, eggs, garlic and onion in a medium bowl.

Season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes if you like and let sit for 10 minutes or so.

Step Two
Add beef and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. 

Step Three
Once everything is well-mixed, roll one tiny sacrificial meatball for testing purposes.

Step Four
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sacrificial meatball and cook until it’s well browned on all sides and is cooked through. Take it out of the pot and eat it. 

Adjust seasoning as needed.

Step Five
Roll the rest of the mixture into balls about 2-inches in diameter. 

Step Six
Working in batches, brown the meatballs on all sides. They might look like mini-burgers, that's cool.  This will take about 3–4 minutes per batch. They will not be cooked through, that’s fine— they will finish cooking in the sauce.

Step Seven
Once the meatballs become browned, transfer them to a large bowl and continue with the rest of the meat. Once they are all browned, celebrate by eating one and let them hang out while you make the sauce.

For the sauce
Step Eight
Without wiping out the pot, add onions and garlic to the pot and season with salt and pepper.

If you feel the need to wipe the pot, deglaze with some white wine and scrape.

Cook, stirring occasionally until they’re translucent and tender but not yet browned, 8–10 minutes. Add anchovies if you’re using them and tomato paste if you have it and stir until the anchovies are melted and the tomato paste has begun to caramelize and turn a darker shade of red, 2–3 minutes.

Step Nine
Add the fresh tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until they’re burst and jammy, 5 minutes or so. Add the canned tomatoes, fill the can halfway with vegetable or beef stock, swirl to get all the tomato bits and pour into the pot. Season with salt and pepper.

Step Ten
Bring to a simmer and adjust for salt, knowing the sauce will reduce a bit and become a bit saltier once you add the meatballs. Add your meatballs and all the juices that have collected at the bottom of the bowl.

Step Eleven
Reduce the heat to low and simmer the meatballs in the sauce (uncovered) until the sauce is thickened and delicious and the meatballs are cooked through and perfectly tender, 30–40 minutes.

In the Rotation

A collection of adapted recipes that avoid setting off the smoke alarm in small apartments. From the curated list of the favorite meals that enter into the rotation of Will Scheideler and September McCarthy.

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