Beef, Mama's Meat Balls

By Floridaberry

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup yellow onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chpped fine
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 1/2 lb. ground veal
• 1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flkes
• 1 teas. salt
• 3-6 cups Mama's Marinara or your favorite marinara sauce
• 1/4 cup extra virgin oilie oil

Preparation

Step 1

1. Place the chicken stock, onion, garlic and parsley in a blender of food processor and puree.

2. In a large bowl, combine the pureed stock mix, meat, bread crumbs, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, red pepper flakes, parsley and salt. Combine with both hands until mixture is uniform. Do not over mix.

3. Put a little olive oil on your hands and form mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls. They should be about 1/4 cup each, though if you prefer bigger or smaller, it will only affect the browning time.

4. Pour about 1/2-inch of extra virgin olive oil into a straight-sided, 10-inch-wide saute pan and heat over medium-high flame. Add the meatballs the pan (working in batches if necessary) and brown meatballs, turning once. This will take about 10-15 minutes.

5. While the meatballs are browning, heat the marinara sauce in a stockpot over meium heat. Lift the meatballs out of the saute pan with a slotted spoon and put them in the marinara saauce. Stir gently. Simmer for one hour.

6. Serve with a little extra Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top. Serve alone or over spaghetti (in which case, you will need 6 cups marinara).

Yield: 4 servings as antipasto or over spachetti