Meatballs with Fresh Pasta and Grilled Herb Garlic Bread

I never really appreciated the meatball as a culinary delicacy until a few years ago when Kara saw Regis on TV talking about Rao’s. It wasn’t long before we had the Rao’s Cookbook in our kitchen and we were experimenting with some of their classic recipes. The meatballs are a fantastic.

This recipe is our own combination of the Rao’s classic and one from Maroni’s, which is another New York City restaurant, featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay. We also worked in some techniques from the Italian American Cookbook by John and Galina Mariani.

A couple notes from a lot of experimentation:

· The bread crumbs make a big difference. Rao’s insists that you must make your own from good Italian bread and I would agree with them.

· You have to use romano cheese. I far prefer a good parmesan to romano in most instances but for meatballs the romano provides the right amount of saltiness. They don’t taste right using parmesan.

· The Rao’s marina sauce is the best I’ve ever had and really easy to make at home. Look for imported san marzano tomatoes. You’ll never buy jarred sauce again. We have a hard time finding san marzano around here but we have a case of Rao’s sauce on hand courtesy of Tom and Donna.

I’m certain we’ll never get a chance to eat at Rao’s in New York unless Regis invites us. A couple years ago in Las Vegas we did take the opportunity to eat at the second location at Caesar’s Palace. It’s an exact replica of the Harlem location down to every picture on the wall. Kara ordered the meatballs which were the cheapest item on the menu at $13.00. I was quite please about that until the charming waiter from Italy tricked her into ordering a $19.00 side of pasta!

Anyway they were delicious. Here is our version that we served with fresh homemade pasta and herb garlic bread from the grill

1 pound ground lean beef
½ pound ground veal
½ pound ground pork
3 large eggs
1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 ½ tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

1 ½ tablespoons of chopped basil
1 clove of garlic, minced
4 or 5 slices of Italian bread soaked in milk
Salt (preferably Kosher or Sea Salt) and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 cups of homemade breadcrumbs
1 cup olive oil

1. Combine beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl. Add 3 eggs, cheese, parsley, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Using your hands, blend ingredients together. Blend soaked bread into meat mixture. Shape meat mixture into balls (2 ½- to 3-inch balls).
2. Dip meatballs into egg wash and then coat in breadcrumbs
3. Heat oil in a large sauté pan. When oil is very hot but not smoking, fry meatballs in batches. When bottom half of meatball is very brown and slightly crisp turn and cook top half. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.
4. Finish the meatballs in simmering marinara sauce