Meatballs Tonys Way Recipes

MEATBALLS TONY'S WAY

Steps:

• Place bread in a medium bowl; add enough water to moisten and let stand for 1 minute. Drain and squeeze liquid from bread; tear or crumble bread into small pieces and transfer to a large bowl, along with ground beef, garlic, parsley, cheese, raisins, pine nuts, salt, pepper, eggs, and dried breadcrumbs. Mix until well combined.
• Shape meat mixture into 2 1/2-inch meatballs. Place equal amounts of olive and grapeseed oil in a large skillet so that the skillet is filled 1/2-inch deep with oil and heat over medium heat. When oil is hot, add meatballs to skillet, working in batches if necessary, and cook, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meatballs to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
• Heat tomato sauce in a large saucepan. Transfer meatballs to saucepan and let simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with remaining cheese.

SUNDAY SAUCE WITH MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Strain the plum tomatoes in a colander to extract the juice, breaking the tomatoes apart with your hands. Discard the pulp and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add 4 cloves garlic, the onion, red pepper and black pepper. Saute until the onion is soft and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add juiced tomatoes, red wine, Parmesan and salt. Add the tomato paste and the water and stir together over medium heat. *Cook's Note: Tomato paste should be added after making meatballs and ribs.
• Put the ground meat in a mixing bowl. Beat the eggs and add them to the meat along with 6 cloves garlic, the bread crumbs, salt, pepper, Parmesan and milk. Mix this all together with your hands. Wet your hands with water and continue to wet them as you pinch meat from the bowl and roll into 2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the flour.
• Heat 1/2-cup of oil in a large skillet. Add 3 cloves chopped garlic and saute until golden brown. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the meatballs and saute over medium-high heat, turning them until they are brown all over.
• *Cook's Note: As soon as you can pick them up with a fork, they are ready. You don't want them to be well done. If the meatball slides off the fork when you pick it up, it needs to cook a little longer.
• Cut the ribs apart and remove the membrane. Saute them in 1/2-cup oil until very brown and remove.
• Return the garlic to the oil and add tomato paste (for the sauce) to the pan; Cook, stirring, over medium heat for about 3 minutes until it softens. Remove from the heat and add to the sauce.
• Add the meatballs and spareribs to the sauce. Bring to an easy boil, then simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Add the basil and simmer for 15 minutes more. The spareribs should be very tender, falling off the bone and the meatballs should float in the sauce

NONNA'S TRADITIONAL MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine the ground beef and ground pork in a large bowl. Set aside.
• In a food processor, combine the milk, eggs, garlic, basil, parsley, cayenne and salt. Process until pureed.
• Add the wet ingredients to the meat and mix to combine. Then add breadcrumbs and Romano, and gently combine; be careful not to overwork the meat.
• With the help of an ice cream scoop (for even sizing), shape the mixture into 2-ounce meatballs and place on a baking sheet.
• Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake the meatballs for 30 minutes.
• Add the meatballs to the Roasted Tomato Sauce and simmer for another 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• In a deep lasagna pan, add the garlic, anchovies, olive oil, red pepper flakes and salt. Place the pan on the stovetop and saute for 5 to 7 minutes to soften. Remove from the heat and add the canned tomatoes and oregano; mix well.
• Transfer the pan to the oven and roast until the tomatoes are nicely charred on top, 45 minutes. Let cool, then blend to your liking with an immersion blender; we like our sauce a bit chunky, but feel free to puree if you choose.

MEATBALLS - TONY'S TOWN SQUARE - MAGIC KINGDOM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with hands.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator 3 - 4 hours.
• Remove from fridge and begin forming into golf ball-size meatballs.
• Place meatballs on cookie sheet 1-inch apart.
• Bake in oven 15 - 20 minutes, until firm to the touch and no longer pink in the middle.

MEATBALLS: THE SPUNTINO WAY

Steps:

• 1. Heat the oven to 325°F. Put the fresh bread in a bowl, cover it with water, and let it soak for a minute or so. Pour off the water and wring out the bread, then crumble and tear it into tiny pieces.
• 2. Combine the bread with all the remaining ingredients except the tomato sauce in a medium mixing bowl, adding them in the order they are listed. Add the dried bread crumbs last to adjust for wetness: the mixture should be moist wet, not sloppy wet.
• 3. Shape the meat mixture into handball-sized meatballs and space them evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The meatballs will be firm but still juicy and gently yielding when they're cooked through. (At this point, you can cool the meatballs and hold them in the refrigerator for as long as a couple of days or freeze them for the future.)
• 4. Meanwhile, heat the tomato sauce in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate the meatballs comfortably.
• 5. Dump the meatballs into the pan of sauce and nudge the heat up ever so slightly. Simmer the meatballs for half an hour or so (this isn't one of those cases where longer is better) so they can soak up some sauce. Keep them there until it's time to eat.
• 6. Serve the meatballs 3 to a person in a healthy helping of the red sauce, and hit everybody's portion-never the pan-with a fluffy mountain of grated cheese. Reserve the leftover tomato sauce (it will be super-extra-delicious) and use it anywhere tomato sauce is called for in this book.