Molly & Meg's Marvelous Meatballs!

So way back at UVa, during our 2nd , 3rd & 4th years, my girlfriends and I used to have home-cooked meals. Actually, Rachel used to cook home-made meals and Meg & I would just do the eating and the dish-washing.
Our favorite meal of Rachel's was always spaghetti with meatballs. Now, Rachel makes a LOT of really awesome meals but this one was always one of our favorites. We requested it so much but Rachel didn't want to make it every time, so one day we watched her make the meatballs that way on nights that Rachel had other plans, Meg & I could make the meatballs ourselves. We added some things and changed some things and over the years have perfected our marvelous meatballs.

So fast forward like 5 years, and Dan had mentioned that he was going to make meatballs for dinner & had found a recipe online. I encouraged him to try mine instead and sent him the recipe. His reaction? "These are the BEST meatballs I have EVER had in my life!!!" Turns out, the dozens of times I had made them in the past 5 years were at times that he was never around and he had never actually had these meatballs until he made them himself.

I thought then I would share with you then the marvelous meatballs, should you ever be craving them too. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of science/exact measuring to the recipe but hopefully you will enjoy!

ingredients:

-a little over 1 lb. of ground beef. don't use turkey- not as good. use the leanest beef you can find (should be 93% fat free). it can be a little over a pound- actually i think i usually use around 1.25
-one-two cloves of garlic (depending on the size) VERY finely chopped
-one egg
-1/4 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs
-3/4 cup FRESH grated parm (grate using the boxed grater- not the MOST fine setting, like how it would come from the kraft shaker but the next up size grate) let's say you were to have a grater that looked like this, it would be the far right sided grater.
-salt, pepper, tons of dried oregano, basil, italian seasoning, parsley etc.

what to do:
-preheat oven to ~400 degrees.
-use pyrex baking dish, or 9x13 gray baking dish- either one works- spray lightly with cooking spray
-FINELY chop/mince the garlic and grate the cheese
-break egg into large bowl- beat with fork
-stir into beaten egg with fork the garlic, salt, pepper, seasonings, unfortunately you can't "season to taste" b/c of the raw egg, but just til it looks/smells good. i always err on the side of lots of seasonings (but not TOO much salt at all b/c of the parm)
- fold in: bread crumbs & parm until combined
-last thing in goes the meat.

get messy! get your hands in there! mix it all up!

-form meat into small balls- ~1.5" in diameter sounds about right- just eyeball it (here were dan's meatballs, which he said he had to cook for almost 40 but he made his way bigger. my recipe normally makes ~15, his only made 7 so they were bigger)
-bake in oven for 15-25 minutes. i usually check around 15 minutes, "shake" the pan, to move around the meatballs and keep cooking til they look done. around 20 minutes i cut into one. -not done? bake a few more minutes. done? take them out.

use silicone tongs to take out of baking dish (gently!) and into simmering sauce. i usually take them out of the baking dish right away so that they don't sit in any fat that has cooked down.

if you know you are going to have leftovers (this is a PERFECT recipe for one! how you ask? well the first time you make them, only drop as many in the sauce to simmer as you plan to eat, leave the rest of them in the baking dish. let them cool to room temperature, then wrap them up in small servings in plastic wrap, 2 or 3 or 4 or however many you eat at a time. put each little plastic wrapped serving of meatballs into a big freezer bag, suck out the air and freeze for up to 3 months. when you're craving some homemade marvelous meatballs, just take out your serving size, thaw on the counter for a little, then simmer in the sauce to reheat. voila! the marvelous meatballs are a dinner treat that keeps on giving!)

pour sauce & meatballs over noodles- penne or spaghetti words best. eat and smile and think of me!

mess up? give it 5 months and i'll make for you. in the meantime, walk down India Street and have one of those nice italian ladies make them for you.
(so that last part is for dan, India Street is the main street in Little Italy which runs parallel to the street our apartment is on with all of the restaurants in the neighborhood).

here is dan's finished product. bon apetite!