A Family Recipe

This recipe for meatballs has been handed down to me and I would like to share it with the reader. Let's start with the ingredients.

• 2 eggs


• 1 cup bread crumbs


• 1/3 cup chopped parsley


• 1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese


• 3/4 lb. ground beef


• 3/4 lb. loose sausage


• I would normally reduce the amount of ground beef and sausage and add an equal amount of ground veal, however, my youngest daughter will not allow me to use veal.


• salt and pepper


• 1 bottle of your favorite red wine

Into a large mixing bowl, add 1/4 cup of water, the 2 eggs(beaten) and the bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly and allow to stand for 5 minutes.

Add the meat, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Now this is important! Use your hands (not a wooden spoon) to mix all of the ingredients until you have a uniform consistency.

Before shaping the meatball, pour 1/4 bottle of your red wine into a small bowl. Dip your hands into the wine and begin to shape your meatballs. The reason that you want to constantly dip your hand into the wine is that the meat will not stick to your hands as you shape the meat and it also adds a wonderful flavor to the meatballs. Place the meatballs on a cooking pan and when all of the meatballs have been rolled, place the pan into a preheated oven (350 degrees) and bake them for 20 minutes.

After the meatballs have begun to brown, remove the pan from the oven and immediately place the meatballs into your hot spaghetti sauce for at least 1/2 hour. The meatballs will continue to cook in the hot sauce.

Mangia tutto!