Bon Appetit's Meatballs

Fry the meatballs in oil and butter--they're great just like that. Or if you are going to add them to a pot of sauce, leave them slightly undercooked so as to not overcook them in the sauce. If you're adding them to the Meat Gravy, put them in about 1 hour before serving.

• Preparation Time: 40 mins
• Cooking Time: 40 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
• Calories: 710 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1 (32 ounce) carton low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 ½ pounds ground beef chuck
• 1 ½ pounds ground beef sirloin
• 1 ½ pounds coarsely ground pork
• 1 ½ pounds sweet Italian sausage without fennel, casings removed
• ½ loaf day-old (hard) Italian bread, torn into chunks
• 1 whole head garlic, minced
• 1 cup packed fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 8 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese (such as Locatelli®), grated

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Combine ground pork, Italian sausage, ground sirloin, and ground chuck in a large bowl. Mix them with your hands until thoroughly combined.

Step 2

Soak bread chunks in chicken broth in a bowl until completely soft. Combine garlic and parsley in a mini chopper or food processor and grind to a fine paste. Squeeze the excess broth out of the bread, reserving the broth in a bowl, and add the bread to the meats along with the garlic and parsley paste. Gently mix in beaten eggs and grated Pecorino Romano cheese with your hands until fully incorporated into the meat mixture. If the mixture seems dry, pour in some of the reserved chicken broth.

Step 3

Pinch off golf ball-sized pieces of the meat mixture and roll them into meatballs, taking care not to pack them too tightly, and set them on a baking tray. Depending on how big you make them, you should end up with about 30 meatballs.

Step 4

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in two or three batches, brown the meatballs on all sides and drain on paper towels. If you're adding them to a pot of sauce, you may undercook them slightly, as they will finish cooking in the sauce.