How To Cook Perfect Juicy and Tender Meatballs?

Try this beefy, soft, tender, and juicy meatballs pasta recipe! I have been busy trying multiple recipes to get the perfect one which I could really enjoy. Finally, I have found one technique that takes this recipe to the next level. I absolutely love meatballs, and this one I served with spaghetti pasta. I love Italian food and I have been following a few Italian accounts on Instagram, some of them are just fun to watch. Having said that meatballs aren't originated from Italy, no one is sure about the country of origin.

This recipe comes from my research and a few trials to get it right, and I am using basic ingredients which most people would have in their kitchen. What do I mean by "right" here is meat balls are cooked thoroughly and really juicy and tender.

Meatballs history goes back all the way to 221BC in China, however, its reference can be seen in some of the Roman Books. In old days meat was only available to rich class and food processors weren't a thing. Mostly meatballs were cooked using left over meat, shredded by bare hands and other primitive ways to get the minced meat such as using a heavy object for grinding. Most ancient recipes are rare and the history of meatballs is obscure.

The first meat grinder is believed to be invented by Karl Drais in 19th century as per Wikipedia. For common people meat grinder wasn't available until mid 19th century, first grinder came out was using a spiral feed with rotating cutting knives. This made it possible for people to make meatballs from fresh meat rather waiting for leftover meat to shred by hands. People could order minced meat from butchers as well. Even today we cannot imagine lives without food processors or grinders. Everyday we are looking for new ways to cook our food in minutes and having busy life it's even getting harder and harder.

What type of meat is used and method of cooking; it's based on the country e.g. in China most commonly used meat is pork and method is steaming. On contrary American style is baking and most common meat used is beef mince. There are several ways to cook meatballs, some of them are frying, baking, braising, and steaming. I like to shallow fry them simply because using less oil or using steaming method

Let's talk about my recipe and I am so excited to share it with you!

I haven't used breadcrumbs or eggs in my recipe, if you like to add those totally up to you.

Creating my own recipes is fun as I like to test and try and experience new ways to cook and experience different cultural cuisines. Whichever way tickles your fancy, meatballs can be eaten as an appetizer and in mains cooked with sauce or top up a pizza or even curries come with their own style of meatballs.

This recipe serves 4 people and cooking time is 45 minutes including preparation. Give yourself some time to prepare and cook. This isn't the recipe you want to cook in hurry, you do want to cook it right.

Ingredients:

To Make Meatballs:

1 large brown onion grated

2 slices of unsweetened bread, cut into small pieces

500 grams beef mince

1 tbsp. minced garlic

1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh parsley or basil

1 tbsp. of salt flakes

1 tbsp. of sweet paprika

Method To Make Meat Balls:

In a mixer bowl add onion and bread, mix it together and leave it for 5 minutes until the bread is soaked and mixed well. This technique keeps moisture in the meatballs and keeps them hold together.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well, form balls using your palm. I made 24 meatballs out of this mix.

Soaking meatballs in grated onions is a great idea as it adds flavor to meat balls and keep them moist

Meatballs mix is prepared with basic ingredients, however more ingredients can be added such as bread crumbs, eggs and other spices

They look yummy already

To Cook Meatballs:

6 tbsp. olive oil

500 gms of your favorite tomato-based pasta sauce

1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley or basil

Salt according to taste

1 tbsp. raw sugar

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp. of sweet paprika

1 tbsp. of dry Italian herbs

Make them crispy or half cooked if you prefer, however half cooked meatballs would be more tender

Any pasta of your choice whole packet serves 4 people, boil it using hot water, salt, and some oil if needed.

Method to cook Pasta Sauce with Meatballs:

In a hot pan, pour in olive oil and add meatballs slowly, cook meatballs thoroughly until they are light brown in color, it should take about 10 minutes, if the heat to too high, make sure you set it to medium. Add pasta sauce and the rest of the ingredients, mix well and cover it for about 10 minutes and set heat to medium, this will cook meatballs thoroughly and hold moisture.

Garnish with grated parmesan cheese if you prefer.

Serve with your favorite pasta (meatballs go well with spaghetti, any other pasta can be used)

Enjoy with your family and friends!

Hope you enjoy this recipe, please like, comment or share, If you are reading I would like to say thank you for visiting this page and hope to see you next time

Other Important links are :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meatball

https://blog.relish.com/articles/best-meatball-recipes/

https://www.goodfood.com.au/recipes/recipe-collections/40-marvellous-meatball-recipes-20180706-h12c49?p=2