Meatballs

I apologize for the photos. I'm still trying to figure out how to operate my camera and lens correctly...

Barbara from Barbara Bakes asked me a question that had been burning my brain for a few days now. It was such a simple, innocuous question, but it did intrigue me. After making the homemade Italian rolls and Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches, she asked me, "What are your plans for the other loaves?"

I didn't know what I was going to do with them until I decided to make meatballs. I searched on Google for a new recipe to try that was different from others I've tried and found one on allrecipes.com.

Instead of using store-bought breadcrumbs, I used a food processor and crumbled half of one of the two, leftover loaves of bread that had been sitting in the refrigerator and added it to the meatball mixture. After making the meatballs, I decided to make a meatball sandwich with the other bread loaf.

I placed freshly-sliced provolone (pronounced [pro-vo-LOW-neh], based on U.S. English pronunciation) on top of the meatballs. The sandwich was good, but the bread to meat ratio was off with the former being much thicker and pronounced than the meat.

The next day, I accompanied the leftover meatballs with a marinara sauce using a brand I'd never heard of called Pomì that my friend had found in Wal-Mart. I then poured the delicious meatball sauce on top of store-bought spaghetti. I took one bite, and I was smitten. This was seriously the best spaghetti and meatballs I had ever had. I didn't expect to enjoy the dish that much, but I did. In fact, after I finished, I kept repeating to myself, "Wow. That was so good."

I topped this spaghetti with freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and provolone.

I am not 100% sure of what made that dish so fantastic, but I am quickly becoming convinced that the sauce was the primary factor (even another blogger raved about this sauce). The sauce was so good that I didn't have to dump a bunch of cheese on top for it to taste better. I will have to try out that sauce again.

I seasoned the sauce with various spices and allowed it to reduce for an hour because I was too hungry to wait longer than that. The juicy, flavorful meatballs complemented the sauce perfectly. Because I played around with the sauces, I have only a formal recipe for the meatballs from allrecipes and a list of the seasonings I used for the sauce.

What did I do with the other half of leftover bread? I converted the other half of the last loaf of bread to garlic toast by placing a generous amount of margarine (I use margarine for my savory dishes to save money haha) with garlic powder and Italian seasoning. I then baked and broiled the bread in the oven. Now, I only have a little bread left that I will use with more leftover spaghetti and meatballs today.

Yummy garlic toast...

TIP: Make the full meatball recipe or double it, parbake the meatballs (350 degrees for 10-15 mins), or fully fry them, and place the extras in the freezer for later use.

If you've heard of Pomì and have tried it, please leave a comment below about your experiences with it.

Meatballs
adapted from allrecipes

1 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground veal (I used 1 lb of ground beef and 1 lb of ground pork)

1/2 pound ground pork

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs

1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf

parsley

salt and ground black pepper to taste

2 cups stale Italian bread, crumbled (I used half of my last loaf of homemade bread and placed in the food processor.)

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (or milk, heavy cream, or half-n-half)

1 cup olive oil

	Combine beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl (I placed the non-meat ingredients in the bowl first so that I didn't have to handle the meat as much. Handling the meat too much can make it tough). Add garlic, eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.
	Blend bread crumbs into meat mixture. Slowly add the water 1/2 cup at a time (I only used 1/2 cup in TOTAL because I was afraid of using too much water. Next time I will use milk, half-n-half, or heavy cream to make it richer). The mixture should be very moist but still hold it's shape if rolled into meatballs. Shape into meatballs.
	Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Fry meatballs in batches (You can also bake the meatballs, but I don't have the instructions for that). When the meatball is very brown and slightly crisp remove from the heat and drain on a paper towel. (If your mixture is too wet, cover the meatballs while they are cooking so that they hold their shape better.)

Marinara Sauce

1 box of Pomì tomato sauce or any other sauce
oregano
parsley
salt and pepper
1 tsp of sugar
garlic powder
onion powder (or use freshly-chopped onions)
Cooked meatballs
Homemade or store-bought pasta

Pour in the sauce, and add the seasonings. Once the seasonings are fully integrated into the sauce, allow the sauce to cook over low heat for one to two hours. If cooking for one hour, add in the cooked meatballs within 30 minutes of the process. If two hours, add the meatballs after one hour. Serve on top of any pasta you like.