I found this recipe by FoodsofJane noodle blogger back around 2017, back when I had to make meatballs from scratch for the first time, since I grew up mostly with Korean food and different Asian cooking styles -- all my college roommates when we shared a kitchen were of East Asian heritage -- to impress an ex's parents, and I have to say, we were all collectively blown away by the taste!
The ex's parents loved using veal in their meatball recipe to make the meatball moist --
what I think really makes Jane's recipe stand out in particular is:
Soaking white bread (like Wonderbread) in buttermilk
Using grated parmesan cheese
Using fresh, high-quality flat-leaf parsley and basil --- the fresh herbs really made the meatball dish stand out, in comparison to frozen meatballs one might be accustomed to getting (even Rao's! which is a cult favorite. I tried Rao's a couple years ago, but I wasn't very impressed, it seemed like a very basic tomato puree? But maybe that's just my taste preference or the product at the location I bought it at -- for example, a lot of amazing foods that should have tasted amazing in Boston, MA, when I was there just didn't taste as great to me as they should have. Maybe my taste buds had lessened over time, or the air/weather/pressure made it so-- the way that they say that food doesn't taste as good when one is in an airplane due to the altitude, or differences due to global warming. I got there after the great Snowpocalypse of 2015.)
Anyway, here is another copy of her recipe, just in case something happens, it's actually quite simple.
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Ingredients:
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 slices of white bread - crust removed
1 lb. ground beef
2 eggs
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
A handful of freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley and basil
Directions:
Pour the buttermilk into a bowl and add in the bread slices until they have been soaked. Use a fork to break apart the mixture, and mix until you can't see the bread anymore.
Add in the beef, eggs, garlic, salt, pepper, cheese, parsley, basil. Mix until well combined.
Roll into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. (I like to lay down tinfoil then spray PAM over it so that the tinfoil catches the juices and there's less mess.)
If your meatballs are smaller, bake for 15 minutes at 400. If your meatballs are larger - you'll have to cook longer and check them. I'd say about 10 minutes longer.
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Personally, I don't like or carry PAM around - one could grease the foil sheet with a tab of butter to keep in line with the meaty flavor, or use olive oil, in the theme of Italian-American/Italian-inspired cuisine.