Simple Italian-American Meatballs

These simple meatballs come together quickly with minimal ingredients. The key is making a moist, flavorful parade with bread crumbs, eggs, buttermilk, and aromatics, along with a bit of gelatin to add some of the velvety richness that veal typically brings to the meatball party.

You can cook the meatballs in a skillet as directed, or you can roast them in a convection oven or air fryer. If using an oven, I’d suggest making larger balls in order to give them plenty of time to brown before they cook through and start drying out.

Active time: 20 minutes

Total time: 30-40 minutes

Makes 16 reasonably-sized balls, 24 small balls, or 8 very large balls

For the Balls:

60g (about 1 cup) panko bread crumbs

1 egg

100ml (a scant cup) buttermilk (or regular milk)

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Handful of minced fresh parsley leaves

10g (about 1 tablespoon) powdered gelatin

50g (about 3/4 cup) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

5g salt (about 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)

250g (1/2 pound) ground pork

250g (1/2 pound) ground beef

To Cook and Serve:

Neutral oil for frying (such as canola, rice bran, or light olive oil)

A pot of tomato sauce (store bought or homemade) hot and ready on the stovetop

Minced fresh parsley or oregano

Freshly grated parmesan or Romano cheese

Extra-virgin olive oil

Cooked spaghetti (optional)

1. Make the panade: Combine bread crumbs, egg, buttermilk, garlic, parsley, gelatin, parmesan, and salt to a large bowl. With clean hands, mix thoroughly until the mixture forms a moist paste.

2. Add the meat to the mixture. Combine with your hands just until the mixture is homogenous. Do not overman.

3. Using clean, lightly dampened hands, form meatballs about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

4. Add a 1/8th inch of oil to the bottom of a skillet (I like carbon steel or cast iron for this, but any skillet will do). Heat it over medium-high heat to around 175°C (about 350°F - a pinch of the meat mixture should sizzle immediately upon touch the oil).

5. Carefully add the balls to the oil, working in a clockwise spiral from the outside to the center. Once all the balls are in, cook until the first side is very well browned, four to seven minutes. Using a fork, carefully flip the meatballs, starting with the first one and working your way through the spiral to the center. Continue cooking until second side is browned, a few minutes longer.

6. Transfer meatballs to the pan of sauce and simmer until just cooked through (a few minutes). Serve immediately, sprinkled with chopped parsley and parmesan, and drizzled with olive oil. You can eat them as-is, if you wish, or put them on top of a next of cooked spaghetti.