Italian Meatballs and How to Chop an Onion

For today's topic - a comfort food: meatballs.

Mmmm...meatballs!

I have been making meatballs since I first attempted cooking probably because it is one of the most basic and easy to make. Think about it - mix, shape and cook. The thing is for people that do not cook much, the instruction "mix" is left at just that - mix. And though it could be shaped and cooked, the question is whether it would hold.

Now this is where all the binders come in. Some use eggs. Others use flour. Even some use a combination of both. There are even some who would put stale bread as both a binder and an extender. But after years of experimentation and reading, it seems that both may help but there is nothing that could beat plain mixing because it is in repeated mixing and mashing that the ground meat further becomes smaller and the meat proteins begin to disintegrate. Once this is achieved, it becomes pasty and becomes its own binder. When cooked, the meat proteins denature and firms up like glue cementing each particle to a perfect hold.

With this, I am going to demonstrate the easiest way of doing this using a hand mixer. Likewise, there is a technique on how to roll the meat mixture ensuring the resulting ball holds itself into a firmness that's good to the bite.  It is not just merely rolling but rather compacting it with the palms as it shapes into the meatball.

To be minimalist about it, let's demonstrate this with the following Italian meatball recipe.

Italian Meatballs.

Ingredients.

• 4 pounds ground beef
• 2 tablespoons crushed, chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon  white pepper (black would do but white has a milder flavor)
• 1 medium chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (make your own: combination of equal parts of basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. Some add: marjoram, sage and cilantro)
• Salt to taste
• Optional: 1 egg

1. Combine above and mix. Using the whipping attachment and at low speed, incorporate everything as the meat blends the seasonings and binds together. Increase the speed to medium even high to further disintegrate the meat as the proteins are released to facilitate binding. Usually, this takes about three minutes of mixing.
2. Next, grabbing a small handful of the mixture and with your hands pre-oiled with olive oil, shape the meatball as one presses using the palms. This action shapes as the meats smoothens the surface of the ball. It helps bind the mixture that when placed in the cooking medium, it does not lose its shape. This is most appreciated when its cooking in some sauce like marinara.
3. In a separate pot, simmer a jar of marinara sauce blended with a cup of red wine. Drop each ball carefully and in an evenly distributed fashion. Cover and simmer for the next half an hour until done. An alternative (more homemade version) to this is to first saute some garlic in olive oil, then add about two tablespoonfuls of Italian seasoning, some onions and ground black pepper to saute until barely caramelized. Add some salt to taste and a large can of crushed tomatoes, 1 cup of red wine to boil then simmer for about fifteen minutes before adding the meatballs.
4. Serve each ball with some sauce as is or on top of cooked spaghetti. Garnish with dried or fresh parsley. A side of grated Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano is likewise a great compliment to this dish.