Ricotta Meatballs

First, an apology. Life got busy. I’ve been working a lot and have been conjuring new recipes, which is harder than it looks. The one today is one of those. But I’ve been bogged down and only now feel comfortable getting back into the weekly grind of recipe production. Some of you paid for a subscription and I cannot thank you enough. Your money hasn’t been wasted. I’ve been steady cooking and refining to give you guys some good original recipes. Today is one of them and I love this one so much.

You can eat this with pasta, but I put them in subs and put slices of mozzarella on top. I highly recommend it. Note also, that you can use ground chuck and ground pork and skip the veal, but get to three pounds of meat. This recipe yields about 30 meatballs.

Ricotta Meatballs

Ingredients

4 large eggs

⅓cup finely chopped parsley

1 cup whole-milk ricotta

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 cup dry, unseasoned bread crumbs

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, plus more if desired

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 pound ground veal

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in purée

½cup fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, parsley, ricotta, Parmesan, bread crumbs, 2 of two of the garlic cloves, the salt, and the red pepper flakes. Mix well with your hands and let sit for a few minutes to soften the bread crumbs.

2. Add the beef, pork, and veal and season with black pepper. Using your hands, mix everything together gently. Don’t work too much or the meatballs will become dense. Form into balls slightly larger than golf balls. Do not push too much or they’ll get tough.

3. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown the meatballs, using tongs to flip and rotate to get all sides. Work in batches, removing browned ones to a paper towel lined tray.

4. Once the meatballs are browned, add the onion and scrape the browned bits from the bottom. Cook until the onions are browned and add the garlic, stirring for a minute. Add a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper.

5. Add the tomatoes and fill the can with water, swirl to get the excess tomato sauce, and pour into the pot. Add the basil leaves. Heat on medium, stirring regularly so it does not burn, and bring to a simmering boil for ten minutes. Then reduce the heat to low and add the meatballs. Let it cook for an hour, gently stirring occasionally to avoid the bottom getting burned.

6. Ladle out the oil that will rise to the top. Serve meatballs on their own, or over garlic bread or spaghetti. You can also use subs, lining the meatballs, then place mozzarella on top and broil to melt the cheese.