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Week 80 Recipe

PHILADELPHIA STYLE MEATBALLS

This recipe pays tribute to the Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia (Philly) is known as a red-sauce town, what they call “gravy”. This recipe is a favorite for “stand alone” meatballs. They can be used in a pasta dish or for meatball subs or just to eat by themselves. Enjoy.

TOOLS • Mixing Bowl • Large Skillet • Cutting Board • Knife • Tongs • Baking Dish I• ce cream scoop   INGREDIENTS • 1 lb ground beef, 80/20 mixture • 1 lb ground veal, or 93/7 mixture beef    if veal is not available • 1 lb ground pork • 1 lb smoked bacon, chopped very fine • 2 whole eggs • ½ cup finely grated combination   Parmesan & Romano cheese • ½ cup finely chopped onions • 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley • 2 tbsp chopped oregano • 2 tbsp chopped rosemary • 1/4 cup fine, dry seasoned bread crumbs • ½ cup milk • 1 tsp coarse salt • 1 ½ tsp ground black pepper • vegetable oil for browning • 28 oz your favorite tomato sauce • Some of the grated cheese for topping

PREPARATION: Combine all of the meats, eggs, cheese, onions and spices and mix together with your hands like a dough. Slowly add milk to the bread crumbs, stirring well until mixture has the consistency of wet sand. Immediately add to the meat mixture, season with the salt & pepper and mix well. Refrigerate mixture for appx 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Shape meatballs by using an ice cream scoop. In a large skillet, heat about 1/4" of oil until very hot. Working in batches, brown all sides of each meatball. As they finish, transfer to a deep, oven-proof baking dish. Cover meatballs with tomato sauce. (Don’t skimp; submerge completely.) Place in oven and bake until well done, appx 1 ½ to 2 hours. When done, they should be firm to the touch. To serve: allow 2 to 3 meatballs per person and spoon sauce over top, sprinkled with cheese. Pass crusty bread. HINTS: Pack the meatballs tightly with your hands after removing them from the scoop to remove all the air. This recipe makes about 24 meatballs so either invite friends to share them with you or freeze half of them for future use.