The recipe that follows comes from my Italian American grandmother and will yield at least 2 meals for a hungry family. Grandma taught me that the keys to delicious meatballs include creating a base of milk-soaked bread for moisture, using different kinds of meat for depth of flavor and letting the meat rest before combining so that the meatballs hold together.

The meatballs freeze and re-heat beautifully, so I recommend preparing them for your next Sunday night supper and then freezing the leftovers for a rainy, hungry day.

Grandma’s Meatballs

Served in a meatball sub with grated parm.

2 slices white bread
1/3 c milk
1 ½ lbs lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 ½ lbs lean ground pork
½ onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 t garlic powder
½ t black pepper, freshly ground
½ t salt
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
2 t fresh parsley
Pinch of hot pepper (optional)
½ c parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs, beaten

Remove crusts from the bread and discard. Chop bread in food processor to create small crumbs. Place bread in large bowl and cover with milk. Let bread sit in milk for 5 minutes and then mash with fork to form a smooth paste.

Add ground meats to the bowl containing the bread and milk. Process onion and garlic in food process until finely minced (can also be done with fine knife skills). Add to the bowl with the meat. Add seasonings including garlic powder, black pepper, salt, oregano, basil, fresh parsley and hot pepper. Gently mix together with fork or spoon to distribute seasonings and bread paste – do not mix with your hands as the warmth will toughen the meat.

Add the grated parmesan cheese to the mixture. A quick note here that I strongly advise that you use real parmesan cheese and not that stuff that comes pre-grated in the green cardboard cylinder. That is not cheese!

Add the eggs and gently mix meat mixture together. Cover bowl with wrap or foil and refrigerate meat mixture at least one hour – two is even better.

About 1 hour before you wish to eat the meatballs, warm up your favorite tomato sauce in a large pot. (Hopefully you already have a family favorite recipe for red sauce but if not then try out Alton Brown’s recipe.)

Preheat oven broiler to low. Next, line a baking sheet with foil and cover with nonstick spray. Portion meat mixture into about 16 meatballs and place on foil lined baking sheet. A medium sized disher or ice cream scoop is ideal for maintaining consistently sized meatballs.

Broil the meatballs on low for 5-7 minutes or until deeply browned, but not burnt. Check meatballs often as broiler intensity and cooking times vary. Remove from oven, turn over meatballs and return to broiler for another 5-7 minutes. Once browned on both sides, remove meatballs from oven and place in barely simmering tomato sauce. Allow meatballs to complete cooking in sauce for 10 more minutes. Remove meatballs and sauce from heat and allow meatballs to rest in sauce another 10 minutes before serving.

Related Posts

1. Rigatoni with Pork Ragu
2. Turkey Tofu
3. Orecchiette with Pork, Tomatoes, and Arugula

Turkey and tofu. I know what you’re thinking: two boring flavors, together at last. This spicy Szechuan dish will change your mind. It’s very similar to mapo tofu, but without the black beans. It’s easy to make, and after you try it once, you’ll be craving it again.

It’s fair to say that I do most of the cooking in our house, but my fiancé came to the party with a small, but excellent set of dishes she has perfected. Turkey Tofu is one of those dishes, and it’s become a staple in our house. It was a staple in her family before we ever met, and the greasy, beat-up copy of The Chinese Cookbook is proof. Set it on the table, and it automatically falls open to the recipe for Spicy Pork & Bean Curd, the ancestor of Turkey Tofu. In our copy, “pork” is crossed out, and “beef” is written in by hand, but my fiancé swears it’s been made with ground turkey since day one. Who am I to argue?

Pork, beef, or turkey?

Turkey Tofu
- serves 4 to 6 -

2 14 oz. packages of firm tofu
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 Tbsp. chili paste with garlic
1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. finely minced ginger
2 Tbsp. finely minced garlic
3/4 C. chicken broth
1 tsp. ground, toasted Szechuan peppercorns
1/3 C. minced scallions, green part only.
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
Chopped cilantro for garnish.

Turkey Tofu Ingredients

1. Mix the ground turkey, chili paste, dark soy suace, and sugar, and set aside to marinate.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil with a pinch of salt. Boil the 2 blocks of tofu for 4 minutes. Drain and cool.

3. When the tofu is cool, cut it into 1 inch cubes.

4. In a wok or large skillet, heat the tablespoon of oil. The original recipe calls for 1/4 C of oil, which is simply unnecessary. You can even just use a generous coat of spray oil.

5. Add the turkey and chili paste mixture and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly to break the meat up.

6. Add the ginger and garlic, stir, and cook for 30 more seconds.

7. Add the chicken broth and cook for another minute.

8. Add the tofu and stir gently, trying not to break it up too much. Cook for two minutes, then mix in the Szechuan peppercorns and scallions.

9. Mix the cornstarch and water. Add the mixture to the wok, give it a quick stir, and let the dish cook just until the sauce thickens from the starch.

10. Transfer to a platter for serving and drizzle the sesame oil over the top.

Serve with rice or noodles. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro on top.

Szechuan Peppercorns

The Szechuan peppercorns are the key to this dish. Apparently, they were illegal in the U.S. for a while, but you can get them at Asian grocery stores now. Sometimes they’re labeled as “Chinese prickly ash.” They start as little red berries. Toast them in a dry skillet for a minute or two until they turn dark brown, just shy of burnt. Then grind them in a spice or coffee grinder. Like any spice, they’re best right after you toast them, but you can toast and grind a few tablespoons and keep the leftovers in an airtight container. After you’ve made the dish a few times, you’ll probably end up using more than a teaspoon every time any way. We use nearly triple!

Speaking of Asian groceries, one of my favorite aspects of this dish is the cookbook it comes from. First published in 1972, it’s loaded with helpful suggestions, like finding esoteric ingredients such as ginger and tofu in Chinese markets or by mail order. How far we’ve come.

Related Posts

1. Pan Fried Noodles with Ground Pork and Baby Chard
2. A Tale of Two Sauces
3. Moist and Tender Meatballs