REAL Meatballs (Barefoot Contessa)

When I first saw the name of this recipe, I wonder how FAKE can meatballs be... LOL! 

I am always a veggie person and wish to be a vegetarian one day. However, living with my meat-lover husband and son make my "vegetarian wish" kind of impossible. I tried to cook meatless meals sometimes but my husband and son will pose to look weak if they see no meat on our dining table. LOL! 

For my family and curiosity, I am here cooking this to see how REAL these meatballs can be. 

Being a veggie person like me, I wonder if I'm critical and appreciative enough to differentiate how real these meatballs are. Although, I might not the best person to judge these meatballs, I can tell that my husband and son looked REAL-ly satisfied happy enjoying these meatballs without saying much. To my surprise too, even a "non-meatball" eater like me think these meatballs are actually REAL-ly good! 

These meatballs have a nice and juicy texture and didn't have an over-powering "meaty" taste. With this red wine tomato sauce, these meatballs are indeed REAL-ly REAL-ly REAL-ly yummy.

Making the meatballs

Cooking the red wine tomato sauce

Take a bite of the meatball... Delicious!

Here's recipe from Food Network

(with my modification in blue)

For the meatballs:

1/2 pound ground veal (replaced with ground pork) 

1/2 pound ground pork

1 pound ground beef

1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)

1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
(both bread crumbs replaced with the fresh one bought from a local bakery)

2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 extra-large egg, beaten
Vegetable oil

Olive oil

For the sauce:

The red wine that I used

1 tbsp good olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti  
(I used Cabernet Sauvignon which is a great substitute for Chianti)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped (I used the crushed tomatoes)

1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs (I made 55 bite-sized meatball with this recipe!).

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 min for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 min. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more min. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 min. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 min (I did mine for 25 min), until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

Note: The meatballs and sauce were well-simmered for 25 min and I reckon most of the alcohol content of the wine used would have vaporised off with this long cooking time. I think this dish should be fine for little children consumptions.

Happy Cooking

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