Just has this for lunch and all I can say is I wish there was more.

these are just like my husbands grandmothers meatballs and sauce. I love it.Nanny though used to cook her sauce overnight. But that is how they did it in the early 1900's.

Dawn, can we have video for making meatball? Hopefully :? Thanks

These are so good, and I am stunned how quickly the dish came together. I did find that the meatballs were really soft, so as I pan-fried them they would settle and form a flat surface. Once they were finished, they were all sorts of strange shapes, mostly odd-looking pyramids. Is there a secret to keeping them round?

The only "secret" I have to keeping my meatballs round is that when I first pan-fry them I gently roll them around almost constantly, just until they start to form a sort of a crust. After that they seem to hold their shape quite well.

These are so good though, I wouldn't care if they were shaped like bunny rabbits :-)

Hope this helps - Cheers!

I just made these (delicious... thanks for the recipe!) and used a melon baller to shape the meatballs. I used one with a hole on each of the scoops: I grabbed more of the meat mixture than I knew the mellon baller could hold and allowed the excess to 'moosh' out the holes when squeezing the baller closed. I used a regular table knife to scrape the excess meat off before releasing the balls onto the baking sheet. This not only resulted in meatballs perfectly uniform in size, but was very fast too!

I always place my meatballs in a one inch deep backing pan and place under the broiler. This way I don't mess up the stove top with splattered grease etc. and the meatballs stay perfectly round. You will have to take the pan out of the oven and turn them at the half way point.

Hi, Hopefully, you will make a video for this dish. Thank you JoAnn

One option to keeping the round shape of your meatballs is to "blanch" them briefly in a pot of high simmering water thus allowing the skin portion to cook and set the shape. Too high a boil could agitate the meatballs to a point where they begin to fall apart. After setting the shape remove from the water with a slotted spoon or skimmer, pat dry completely!!! (Remember that moisture is the "enemy" of the browning process ie. "Maillard Reaction"-Low moisture levels are mainly necessary because water boils into steam at 212 Fahrenheit (100 Celsius), whereas the Maillard reaction happens noticeably around 310 Fahrenheit (155 Celsius): by the time something is in fact browning, all the water is vaporized). Once dry continue with your favorite cooking process.

I served this last night and it was a huge hit. It was the first time I have ever used canned tomatoes without citric acid and I am amazed by the difference (that bit of info alone was worth the tuition!). I can't believe I have been cooking all these years and didn't know how to choose quality canned tomatoes. I made the mistake of confusing price and reputation with quality. Thanks for setting me straight.

Question: I have several cans of Muir Glen Organic Brigade tomatoes in my pantry. The lable says they have "naturally derived citric acid." Is there any difference between "naturally derived citric acid" and just plain citric acid?

Thanks for your help...and thanks for this fabulous recipe!

Not sure what Muir Glen means by this...except I suppose they DON'T use chemically made citric acid. I've used their tomatoes with success. But, again, if citric acid has to be used, whether naturally derived or not, means the tomatoes lacked the right sugar content to preserve WITHOUT citric acid. However, some tomato types and areas they are grown may require citric acid for safe canning.

This is the first time I make meatballs and they taste really great, honestly I don't usually care much about meatballs but those where actually magnificent!! I think the problem is that I ate a lot of bad ones ;D.

I have a lot of leftover meatballs that I didn't use and I froze it, is there a proper way to cook them from the freezer?? should I thaw them first ??

I often freeze raw meatballs. For the best color, I think it is best to thaw them first and then fry them. If they seem quite wet once thawed then maybe just roll them around on a sheet or two of paper towel before frying.

So glad you like these meatballs Khaled, enjoy the leftovers. It's nice to have a delicious dinner already made isn't it - cheers!

Most Citric Acid used as commercial preservative is manufactured from corn. Maybe the Muir Glen "naturally derived" comes from citrus or cherries. Although the mass-produced stuff is a corn product, its chemically the same. I think this is mainly marketing.

I finally had the chance to prepare these, and they truly are amazing. In addition to the dozen or so we had last night, I now have four dozen in the freezer waiting for use. My gal said, "So, I can take some for lunch tomorrow?"

I did substitute pork sausage for ground pork, doubled the beef in lieu of veal, and used commercially ground Parmesan. While these certainly didn't hurt the flavor, I'm looking forward to the next batch.

Now for my question. What is the difference between Cilantro and Italian Parsley?

Thanks for another great recipe and learning opportunity!

Good question Jim; while these two herbs may look alike their tastes are completely different. Cilantro, which is actually the leaf of a coriander plant, has a very strong aroma and unique taste. It is commonly used in South American and Asian cuisine. Italian flat leaf parsley has a more mild flavor. For me, Italian parsley has more a neutral flavor and because of that it is more versatile (like I said, "to me").

Buying them can sometimes be confusing as they are generally right next to each other at the grocery store. Cilantro leaves are generally a bit rounder than the leaves of Italian parsley. Of course you can always just pick up the bunch and smell it, you usually always tell whether it's cilantro just by the smell.

If you are still confused Jim, buy a bunch of each the next time you go to the store...after trying each of them you will not longer wonder what the difference is! Hope this helps!

p.s. Really glad you liked the spaghetti and meatballs!!

I just bought a pasta machine and some organic beef and pork. I'm going to make pasta and these meatballs for dinner! I'm so stoked.

I was not let down. Making laminated pasta at home produced something entirely different than what I'm used to. The results were absolutely fantastic.

These meatballs were so moist and flavoursome. I opted to pan fry and then finish them in the sauce (I used some local organic canned tomatoes, without citric acid of course).

Also awesome is that it's a large recipe, so you'll (probably) be left with leftovers.

I am so glad you liked it Hesham...nice work!!! Also wanted to let you know that the meatballs freeze very well. Cheers!

Why is this recipe under the category of video recipes if there is no video for it?

Despite that issue, I hope to try out this recipe. Can one freeze the meatballs after cooking them?

These meatballs are delicious! If you plan to freeze them, it is better to shape them while the meat mixture is still raw. Lay them out on a parchment-lined tray and freeze them raw. Transfer to a plastic freezer bag. Let them thaw in the refrigerator before cooking/proceeding with the recipe.

You can freeze them after cooking, but during reheating, they may tend to dry out and be tougher. It is best to thaw them from their raw state and cook them as you need them.

Yes, this particular recipe is a text-only recipe and does not have a supporting, step-by-step video.

There are 3 categories of recipes under the Video Recipes heading: Rouxbe Videos, Rouxbe Certified Text Recipes, and Test Kitchen Recipes/user-generated recipes. Rouxbe Certified Recipes do not have step-by-step instructions; most do, however, contain supporting drill-downs or tip videos attached to them. Most text recipes usually support particular Cooking School lessons so students can apply what they have learned in the video lesson to the text recipe. If a particular concept has been learned, no further video should be required. Hope this helps/clears things up. Cheers!

Hi,
I am a new student but have been cooking Indian food for my family for over 20 years.I tried this recipe using the Soy (tofu) chunks instead of the meat in the meatballs and it was a great hit. I followed the recipe as described with only one exception.
I microwaved the Tofu meatballs after shaping it in the recipe for 2 minutes before pan frying it. This step prevented it from falling apart while frying.
This turned out to be a great alternative for non-meat eating vegetarians.
Aparna

I can't wait to try the meatball recipe. Sounds a lot like my mother's recipe.
I always like to use the Italian tomatoes in my sauce. I'll let you know how I do with the meatballs.

Thanks,

Diana

Roll the meatballs in additional breadcrumbs, then bake at 400F for 20 minutes. Easier than frying, the meatballs don't fall apart, they still brown, but instead of adding fat, some of it cooks out.

Ilove this idea. What do you think staff?