The Meatball Test

I prepared some pasta and sauce this morning to offer with the meatballs that I made last evening. One of my tasters is a coworker. I will let him send a message concerning his taste of the meatballs and sauce. You will be able to read that opinion after he lunches this afternoon.

I happened to toast my most awesome baguette this morning (my Bread recipe is well posted) and sliced a cold meatball to place on my toast with some of the fresh pasta sauce. I was delighted with the flavor. It was well worth the time it took to make a fresh sauce and prep the pasta this morning for my lunch. The meatball was firm and still tender, something that would make a great sandwich or sub type meal too. I recommend this meatball dish highly. The sauce is fresh and not overpoweringly salty. I like a more sweet full tomato flavor and my sauce offered all that I love about pasta.

My research has discovered that the Bobby Flay episode of Meatball Throwdown was against Mike Maroni. Mike posted the Grandma Maroni recipe for his meatballs on line. I modified and offered my twist on that recipe where I took my many years of trial and error  to play with the Maroni recipe to adapt it to my ultimate enjoyment. I like my meatballs a bit more herbed and with a smoother meat texture than the original recipe. I place a ground pork in my recipe and Grandma Maroni uses only beef. I add more seasoned crumbs and some oregano beyond the straight up Maroni formula. Try the recipe both ways and see how you like it. The meatball is a great place to experiment with your tastes. Within one batch of meatballs you can easily make 5 variations of flavor changes and try them all out in one sitting. That would qualify you for a method that I use to evaluate recipe tweaks.

4 Comments on “The Meatball Test

  1. Well, that meatball lunch was fabulous. Not too salty, nor fatty and Chef’s right about how much of an impact the smoothness makes on the tactile experience.

    I would call this another home run!

    • The meatball just about speaks for itself and the sauce is the Chef’s recipe …listed right on this site. I am pleased to announce to any follower of my blog that you can prepare these items and have them served for dinner this evening. Simply print off my list of ingredients and stop in the grocery store on route to home this evening. The sauce is a 30 min to plate item and the meatballs will take you just over an hour if you work the steps and preheat the oven ahead of time. It is worth the effort. Enjoy!

  2. These meatballs are great with penne pasta or plain old spaghetti. They’re also fine on a toasted hoagie roll with marinara sauce. As I slip into a food coma, I want to give this a thumbs up so that when I am stuffed and mounted for my funeral I’ll still be giving chef’s food a high rating.

    • A meatball sub is somewhere between a full entree and a snack … I happen to know that Mr Cliff received 2ea subs today from the Chef. It was kind of like giving a bribe for paid advertisement. The point being… these frozen meatballs can be thawed… sliced and used for multiple purposes. Lasagna, Salad toppings, sandwich or main entree, you are the chef …you decide how to use this awesome meat menu item. Enjoy!

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