Recipes

Beef and Pork Meatballs

Yield: 4-6 Servings

Active Time: 1 hr

Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces fresh white bread, crusts removed and bread cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 unpacked cups)
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk, plus more as needed
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 ounces grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated, plus more for serving.
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves, minced
  • 4 teaspoons kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 ounces fatty pancetta, finely minced
  • 4 large eggs yolks
  • 1 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground fennel seed
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 5 cups tomato sauce

Preparation

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine bread with buttermilk, tossing to coat. Let stand, tossing occasionally, until bread is completely moist, about 10 minutes. Squeeze bread between your fingers or mash with a spoon to make sure there are no dry spots; if there are dry spots that refuse to moisten, add more buttermilk 1 tablespoon at a time until bread is moist throughout.

Add onion, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, salt, pepper, pancetta, egg yolks, oregano, and fennel to bread/buttermilk mixture. Finely mince gelled stock, if using, and add.

Set mixer bowl in stand mixer and attach paddle. Starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, beat bread mixture until thoroughly blended, stopping to scrape down sides as necessary. Add 1/3 each of the beef and pork and beat at medium-high speed until thoroughly blended with bread mixture.

Remove bowl from stand mixer and add remaining beef and pork. Using a clean hand, gently mix meatball mixture, teasing apart ground meat with your fingers, just until ground beef and pork and thoroughly distributed throughout; avoid mixing any more than is necessary for even distribution.

Preheat broiler and set oven rack in upper position. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Form meatball mixture into handball-sized balls and arrange on prepared baking sheet; you should be able to make about 10. Broil meatballs until browned on top, about 7 minutes (browning times can vary, depending on oven).

Heat tomato sauce in a medium pot until simmering and add meatballs. Simmer until meatballs are just cooked through and register about 145°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes.

Serve meatballs, spooning sauce all over and grating more cheese on top.