Fabio’s Mom’s Meatballs

Fabio’s Italian Kitchen
Fabio Viviani

Admittedly, I am not a big meatball person.  Was never really a fan.  Even growing up, my mother never really made meatballs very often.  It just wasn’t a big thing in our family.  In my experience meatballs were always somewhat dry, kind of flavorless and just blech.  So I was never really inspired to attempt meatballs until I came across this recipe.  Fabio’s Mom is a genius.  This meatballs are tasty, moist, and throughly enjoyable.

Once the meatballs are prepared and ready to be cooked, you just throw them into a sauce recipe of your choice and allow them to cook.  The recipe suggested in the book was Fabio’s Tomato Sauce, but you can use any sauce recipe you like.  They can be adapted to any sauce.

---

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
4 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
1 cup Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, grated
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, mined
2 shallots, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 cups Fabio’s Tomato Sauce (or any sauce of your choice)
Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

---

1. Place all the ingredients except the tomato sauce, the parsley, and the extra-virgin olive oil in a medium-size bowl and mix thoroughly by hand until they are completely combined and the mixture is uniformly firm.
2. Coat your hands in olive oil, and form balls slightly bigger than a golf ball
3. Heat the tomato sauce in a saucepan over medium heat, then drop the meatballs into the sauce and add enough water to allow the sauce to reduce and simmer but not so much that the sauce is totally liquid. Cook for about 10 minutes on one side, then turn the meatballs over, add some more water, and cook for another 10 minutes, using a spoon to cover the meatballs with the sauce as they simmer.  Remove from the heat and let rest for 5 minutes.
4. Serve with chopped parsley, salt and pepper, more Parmigiano-Reggiano, and a frizz;e of extra-virgin olive oil, of course!