My husband passed away this summer: Agent Orange cancer, resulting destruction of his mouth, throat, entire digestive system, unable to eat...everything "tubed" through a hole in his stomach (which he could taste)...later to his Jejunum (couldn't even taste). He watched you guys, and you seemed to give my "foodie" husband some satisfaction---certainly gave him (us) some shared fun. We watched you together; and now I watch you to imagine his delightful comments. At the end he purchased so many pans and other cooking items which you recommended...which he would never use. I use them, and I think of him with every use. You connect me to Quinn, and I thank you.
I remember my father making homemade marinara (spaghetti) sauce 60+ years ago with drop meatballs. I do not know if he used crumbs or a Panade, but I do remember he used to double grind his beef to make the hamburger. I also remember how tender and tasty they were. The smell in the whole house as the sauce and meatballs simmered all day in a pot on the stove was fabulous. Thank you for bringing back this memory.
Nice recipe ladies, i make mine this way. A tip, if you make meatball hoagies cut them in half & place flat side down on bottom bun & that way they don't shoot out or fall off when biting.
Tried making this the other night. 5 out of 5 stars, the meatballs are amazingly delicate, have marvelous flavor, and the texture is heavenly - not 'spongy' or 'springy' like many store-bought meatballs. Going to add this to a regular rotation when I'm in the mood!
I found these videos about a month ago. LOVE THEM!!! I tried these and decided to season my panade instead of everything all at once. I used oregano, fennel seed, fennel, pepper, salt, nutmeg, red pepper flakes and garlic powder. This way the seasonings are distributed evenly. I usually make my own Italian sausage using some of those ingredients and ground pork straight from our local whole hog pork dealership her in Raleigh, NC. I added the parmesan after putting both ground beef and pork into the panade, then mixed by hand. Then I browned a little bit to taste the meat before making meatballs with a scoop server. It turned out fantastic and very tender. I'm freezing half the meatballs as they are so I can just take them out and use them anyway I please later, I will thaw them before browning). Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
My husband and I have been big fans of ATK for years! We were excited to learn we had access to an ATK station on our new smart TV. We watched this video last week, and I'm cooking poached meatballs as you instructed as I type. I told my best friend about the show . She told me that this is the way her Italian mother-in-law showed her how to make meatballs.
My search is over! Made these meatballs tonight and they truly were wonderful. I had sauce that I needed to use but next time I will make that as well. The most tender meatballs I've ever had. Thank you!
Just made ‘em with ground turkey and I was very pleasantly surprised at how good they were. Very moist and soft with tons of flavor. Easy too! Only thing I did differently is I refrigerated the meatball mixture then formed them right before plopping them in the sauce. This saved cleanup of a sheet pan and for the first time ever I had perfectly ROUND meatballs. I also added a little sugar to the sauce to temper the acidity of the crushed tomatoes. Highly recommend!
I’m glad I read through comments. I don’t eat red meat and was wondering if turkey would work. So, you followed the recipe and the only thing you did different was refrigerated the meatballs?
@@marybethbagin4565 I don’t eat red meat either. This recipe works just fine with ground turkey. The only thing I did differently is I refrigerated the entire bowl of the meatball mixture before rolling the individual meatballs and placing them in the sauce. Worked perfectly. So good. Highly recommend.
@@JagInJersey I eat a lot of ground turkey. Turkey meatloaf, burgers, sausage patties, sloppy joes. It’s all good. I’m thawing ground turkey and will be making this recipe on Sunday. Thank you for your response!
I love your show! Please keep up the good work....I an actually on a diet in terms of what I can and can't eat ..but I live through your food and show...and your final taste reactions. Sadly I lost all motivation to cook because my 8 year relationship ended...and I cook really for others and not myself to delicious levels..😔
As a widower, I can relate. We loved cooking together. Cooking for one was... Anyway, he was Omni, I was lacto-ovo vegetarian. My current husband is Omni, and I'm now Vegan. While my late husband had talent, my current husband... not so much. So, I wow him with plant based substitutions, reaching for all of the taste, none of the guilt, with a better nutrition profile. He's gained 60# since we married. I've maintained. He eats whatever during the day, Vegan or lacto-ovo at home. I invite you to look into plant based for your health concerns, sans judgement. My mom's an Omni; still love her. For ideas and Science of this all, I recommend the RU-vidrs Brian Turner, Simnett Nutrition, and Mic the Vegan. For documentaries, "The Game Changers," about Vegan athletes, and, "Forks Over Knives." There are many others. You're invited to try our food, and I wish you nothing but health and long life.
I make this all the time. So good! I stir the rest of the ingredients into the panade before adding the beef. I feel like it helps evenly distribute everything.
I cook my pasta differently I add the pasta to the cold water and once it begins to boil the pasta is done. When I drain the pasta I save 1/2 a cup of the water it cooked in and stir it back into the drained pasta. Doing this makes the sauce really stick to the pasta. I picked this up from my mother and have always done it this way.
My Polish/Austrian grandmother never browned either and dropped in! I cooked with her and wrote down the recipe in the 90s, unfortunately, I lost the recipe! :( Second best is Cooks Country and Americas Test Kitchen, as everything they do is "Keeper Recipes"!! :)
Love, love meatballs! Thanks for the simple recipe and I hope to try it one day.I love drop meatballs, usuallyI bake my meatballs then add it to the sauce.
I use a mixture of pork veal and beef - best ! never tried with saltines before -- Now I will try - my parents Italian and we always did drop meatballs - soft and delicious
This meatball recipe is one of our favorites for pasta & meatballs, but we use the pasta sauce as a starting point and add to it such as browned onions & Italian herb blend. I'm surprised ATK didn't use a cookie dough / ice scream scoop to measure all the meatballs. The trigger release makes it so easy and quick. We usually make the sauce first and then just drop the meatballs directly into the sauce from the scoop. No need to dirty a cookie sheet unless we make them ahead of time.
Yes she is right don't overwork your meat . What I do to avoid overworking the meat . Mix, bread crumbs, or saltines , milk, cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic and whatever seasons you prefer. Mix well then add meat. This way allows no over mixing.
This is the best recipe. I have been making this sauce and meatballs for a year or so now and always get rave reviews. The only difference for me is using grass fed ground beef I will cook it longer in the oven to tenderize the beef.
I've made this recipe 3 times, so obviously I'm a fan. While I understand the emphasis on the meatballs, no one has mentioned the delicious sauce this recipe produces. I usually use three cans of tomatoes and adjust the other ingredients accordingly, so I have extra sauce.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. But, I am always amazed how clean is your oven. Do you do any video how to clean an oven especially the control thermometer inside the oven? Thanks!
I don't do much Italian cooking so I've never made meatballs. They are a lot of work. Ha ha. This recipe is turned out perfect and was amazingly easy and satisfying.
This is how I was taught to make meatballs (well, white bread instead of saltines) and although I always get compliments on them, if asked how I make them I’m always told disdainfully “that’s not authentic Italian.” Well, newsflash: neither am I. Not was my mom, or my grandmother, who is as far back as I know the method goes in my family.
In Italy, "spaghetti and meatballs" is an oxymoron. The two just don't go together there. We Americans may not know what's authentic Italian, but we know what we like. It's like veal parmigiana and chicken parmigiana; they're not Italian, but they're delicious.
I've read a few comments from Italians on other videos who (mostly jokingly) say that anything outside of their hometown wouldn't be considered authentic Italian. There seems to be a certain tribal/regional pride in the cuisine.
@@skypants2 True, lots of Italians say that ricotta doesn't belong in lasagne and that it should only be beschamel. I've been hearing that claim for years. But some Southern Italians will tell you they never heard of beschamel and always used ricotta. And I've read that some people in Italy do eat spaghetti and meatballs these days. A couple of videos of Italian cooks making the dish exist on RU-vid.
I live in South Philly and almost everyone I know always fry their meatballs first then let them simmer in some homemade marinara sauce! I only knew one Sicilian family that didn't fry their meatballs!
This is a great recipe and I recently made it for the first time. Just one note: make sure you skim the fat from the top of the sauce when it comes out of the oven. The meat (85/15) releases all of its fat into the sauce, which is a lot. Another tip is to add a little sugar. There are no chopped sautéed onions so the sauce is missing a little of the sweetness that I’m used to.
I suggest adding dried, minced onion to the mix, and browning. I also invite you to try replacing some or all animal products with plant based. With every attempt, one can enjoy all of the taste, without causing a single animal to suffer and die.
It's actually the opposite. Slicing them leaves the flavor compounds on the cutting surface and the knife, so they don't make it into the dish. Not, releases them more fully into the dish.
I first saw this technique with Fabio from Top Chef. He has a video demonstrating this technique. Changed how I cooked meatballs. So much easier and tastier.
This looks tasty. I'm still going to brown my meatballs tho. Sure... It's a pain in the butt but I enjoy the flavor. Definitely a good alternative to store bought.
The caramelisation is adding a layer of flavour, and I doubt these would fall apart if browned first. Meanwhile, I encourage and invite you to experiment with plant based faux meats. No judgement from me, just hoping to excite true foodies to explore everything that's out here now. Sure, I do it to replace cruelty with plants, but if it tastes as good or better, there are no losers, while some animals gain time, hoping to see the sun once before they are killed. Or more than once. Maybe daily. Maybe playing in a field, as we eat plant based, without missing the taste of... their lost innocence and happiness. You're invited, any time. Even one plant protein meal means you'll be sparing at least one animal a gruesome end.
@@injunsun Just because you can't hear the plants scream, doesn't mean a plant-based diet is any kinder. If we all just ate people, imagine the number of animals we'd save.
@@sociopathmercenary Actually, as plants haven't got nerves, and I'm consuming far fewer by not passing them through another animal first, it is less cruel, obviously. As for eating humans, only if it's consensual, such as, ahem, in bed. Or if it's tRump, we can tourniquet off his parts, starting with his feet, and feed them to him bit by bit, raw, until he's just a fat, disgusting torso with a head. Gets a bit trickier after that. Shades of "Hannibal," feeding Ray Liotta's character his own brain.
I prefer the texture of them browned. These look too much like small meatloaf. Good recipe, but I would brown them first - and spice them a lot more... ok... good start of a recipe ha ha 😎
I will continue to use potato flour as usual. Around one table spoon per pound of meat. And I will squish them, fry them in the pan and call them meat cakes. I know that some heathens will use ground dried ginger in addition to my secret ingredient nutmeg.
Just tried this dish and followed the recipe to the tea... I will say meatballs turned out okay. However, the sauce was too acidic- I think adding a bit of sugar or other sweetener would have helped add some balance. Meatballs were great though. I was a bit worried they would break up, but I refrigerated them the night before and they were a lot firmer the next day.
"We use saltines because they have less moisture than Panko." [WTF? I'm pretty sure Panko has less moisture than the surface of the moon] ***Dumps a cup of milk over crushed saltines***
Actually, she never said saltines "have less moisture than panko," although it was implied. Your quotation is a false one. What she said was "So usually we use fresh bread crumbs or panko bread crumbs, but today we're going to be using saltines; and the main reason we're using saltines is because we found that there's less moisture in the saltines, and it made the meatballs less gummy." What she probably meant was that saltines have less moisture than fresh bread crumbs.
Dairy and plant milks are mostly water, but with proteins that shrink to bind. If there's already water in another ingredient, such as differing amounts between crumb sources, that can mean less protein to bind, more water to make gummy, via cooking starches. Hope this helps. And I encourage plant based subs for the ground dead cattle, and the cow mammary secretions.
I wonder if that's a thing in American "Swedish" meatballs? As a new Vegan, I'm excited to transform old standards into new, cruelty free versions, without losing the authentic taste. I've got sour cream replacements, as well as easy Vegan buttermilk (mjolk, in Swedish). (P.S. You don't want mjolk on your muesli! You want lett mjolk, which is ordinary dairy milk. Or these days, plant milks that are often better than dairy.) To make faux buttermilk/mjolk, I use either Kroger Simple Truth Organic plain soy milk, or Silk almond/cashew (with pea protein) milk, with a Tbsp of vinegar added for every cup needed. With a cup = to 16 Tbsp, that's easy. There are also cultured versions, adding active cultures and twang to your thang. While Swedes don't usually add mushrooms to their recipes, I like them in that dish. Thoughts? Ideas?
@@injunsun : Yeah but what are you going to do about replacing pork (or other meats) for your meatballs? Textured soy protein/tofu?🤢 Why not just limit your meat intake instead of coming off as another vegan snob? Some dishes have NO replacements. How often do you actually plan on eating Swedish meatballs? If you truly want to life your life "cruelty-free", I suggest living in a bubble. Is saffron, cruelty-free? Think about it!
@@tempestfury8324 What am I going to do? You clearly have no idea the variety of faux meats available, as well as easily made at home, sometimes with tofu, wheat gluten, chickpea flour, etc.. As for why not just limit my meat, rather than "appear as Vegan snob?" That's four things, actually. 1) I don't want to be responsible for suffering and death of animals. 2) I enjoy the taste of meat. 3) I am married to an Omni, so satisfying his desires is part of a healthy relationship. 4) I am Vegan, yet not a snob. I invite people to enjoy what I eat, while not shitting on their plates. I engage with people as having been where they are, and am only competing with myself from yesterday, not trying to shame you for not being where I am at. As I always tell people who start getting salty, like you, "I'm quite sure you probably do good things on your Path that I don't." So while I don't cajole others, neither do I just give in and give up to your hegemony, because I choose my own Path. I am not Vegan to be part of a vainglorious cult. I do it for the animals, my health, resource use and waste, to reduce pollution, and to expand the food available to other humans, to reduce global starvation, and reduce lost habitat for human farm use. See, my reasons are 100% policy, 0% trying to irritate people like you, who expect me to be a "snob," while you're literally being one to me, looking down from your position of social norm, from amongst the herd. As for how often I would have Swedish meatballs? Now that I know how to properly simulate their texture, probably more often than the normally once a year that I do. As far as, "Is saffron cruelty free?" The simple answer is, yes. They are the stamens of a crocus flower. While I do attempt to aim for the Hindu principle of Ahimsa, anyone worth at least half a fart understands that there is no such thing as a perfect person. We can only attempt to eliminate the cruelty that is available within our reach. I am quite cognisant of the fact that some of the products that are in use around me or by me actually do involve some cruelty, such as tallow being used in the vulcanization of tire rubber. I am just one person. I am doing what I can. I also I'm neither ashamed, nor overweeningly proud of what I have not done, don't do, or won't do. But at least I'm not looking at someone else trying to do something good in their life, and taking a big steaming dump in public on their Path. Have a good day.
@@injunsun I apologize for my snarkiness. However, you are missing the point. Saffron is cruelty-free for the plants but not the humans that pick the stamens. You are supposedly taking the "high ground" with not eating animals as you deem it cruel. Okay fine. But it's the same logic as driving electric cars to "save the planet". Recycling, for example, is one of the biggest scams in modern history that everyone fell for. Gluten-free fads were another thing people fell for (not unlike the anti-MSG crowd) when only about 1% of the population has celiac disease. What about "cruelty-free" tennis shoes, or iPhones, or clothing, or whatever products that are made in sweatshops? If you're going to take the moral high ground, shouldn't you go all in? Perhaps animals are more important to you than humans.
Can you explain if there's any particular reason for adding the seasonings at the end of the meat mixture rather than to the dry cracker crumbs before adding the milk?
