MEAT-A-BALL-A

Last weekend I went to a meat ball bake off.
I'm not known for my meatballs...
but I want to be.

I googled "best meatballs".

Many recipes came up.

Then I went on FOODTV.COM
and searched by the star ratings.
I read all the reviews.
This took about an hour.

What I settled on was "Excellent Meatballs" by Anne Burrell and "Veal and Ricotta Meatballs", by Mario Batali.They both sounded SO GOOD.

So, I decided to make my own version using a combo of those two.

Kass's Meat- A- Balls

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground veal
1 lb ground pork
2 cups ricotta cheese-drained in a sieve for a bit to get all the water out
2 eggs
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
pinch crushed red peppers
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
extra virgin olive oil to coat bottom of large pan
4 cups basic tomato sauce (use your own favorite!)

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a food processor combine half of all the ingrediants. Pulse on and off a few times till blended.Shape the mixture into golf ball sized balls.cook balls in skillet till browned on all sides. Place meatballs on large cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
When the meatballs are done- place in a large pot, along with the sauce/gravy and simmer till you're ready to "mange".



And the winner was....Brother-In-Law Bob.. with his now award winning meatballs passed down from his parents.How great is that trophy.



Maybe next year for me...
But no matter, I did it.
I have mastered the meat-a ball-a...
They are light and fluffy and the ricotta gives them a special ummph.

Now I want to master the gravy.

And down the road my grandchildren will say- "Remember how great Kass's meatballs and gravy were?"