Cafe Martorano Meatballs. Take your day old Italian bread and tear it into large pieces. Put the bread chunks into a large bowl and drizzle water over them until they are covered.
Use your hands and pick up a handful of the bread and squeeze the excess water out of it. Mix it with the ground meats. This gives your Italian meatballs moisture and helps bind the meats.
Add the eggs, the parsley, the cheese, the breadcrumbs, the garlic powder, salt and mix together. Using your hands. Knead it all together until all the ingredients are blended well. You can just smell all the delicious flavor of the fresh meats and spices.
When you form your Italian meatballs make them big. Nice and BIG! A good size should be almost as big as a baseball. That's the Southern Italian way.
When you're ready to cook the meatballs, heat the vegetable oil in a deep pan. Don't use Olive oil, it burns too quickly. Fry the meatballs, turning on each side, until they're golden brown. You can do them in batches. You don't want to add all at once or they will stick and become a meaty mess. Remove from the oil and set on some paper towels to drain some of the oil.
The meatballs are not cooked all the way through at this point. They are just browned. The remainder of the cooking process is done in your favorite tomato sauce, marinara sauce recipe or Italian gravy. I use a jar, yes a jar that is as good as any sauce that I have tasted - 3 Bertolli Tomato & Basil Sauce. Allow the sauce, with the meatballs in it, to simmer until the meatballs are tender and fully cooked.
Cafe Martorano Meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground veal
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 eggs
- 1 large bunch of parsley
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Pinch of Garlic powder
- Pinch of Kosher salt
- 1 ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 loaf of day old Italian bread
- Enough vegetable Oil to fill pan half way
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