- Hi, "A Little Help" is canceled.
(laughter)
- Hi, it's "A Little Help." (Italian Music)
You know, your favorite show.
On this episode, we're gonna make meatballs.
And look, I get it, your nonna's meatballs
are the best and nobody's arguing that.
But let's be honest.
You've been eating those balls your whole life without
ever returning the favor.
It's time you made some meatballs of your very own.
With a little help, you can feed your nonna meatballs
that'll have her saying, "Molto bene!"
Let's go!
It's just meatballs.
You want a fat content that's on the higher side.
So you wanna choose a ground beef that has 20-25% fat.
We're gonna go with an 80/20 in this recipe.
But I wouldn't stop there.
I really like to mix two or even three different kinds of meat
together for my meatballs.
You don't have to do this but it's a great way to get
a more complex flavor and it separates your balls from all
the other balls out there.
We're gonna add ground pork and we'll also add some spices
you can find in Italian sausage.
Giving our meatballs a little bit of a sausage vibe.
If you're feeling lazy you can always just use the
pre-made stuff.
Let's talk all the other stuff.
Use fresh herbs.
That dry Italian seasoning that's been hanging out in your
pantry for years is not doing you any favors.
Fresh parsley and oregano and grinding whole spices will
make all the difference.
For this recipe, we're gonna toast and grind some
whole fennel seeds.
Next, a bit of ricotta for moisture and then we're gonna add
breadcrumbs and some chopped up white bread to help retain
that moisture.
And then minced garlic, two eggs, Parmesan cheese,
and salt and pepper.
We'll add some red pepper flake,
for a little spicy,
and a drizzle of olive oil.
OK so it's time to mix everything up.
Skip the spoon or the spatula because we've got a lot
of textures going on here and it's really important to
get everything mixed evenly without over mixing.
This job calls for two clean human handos.
It's the most control you can have for even mixing.
Just be sure to keep everything contained in your
mixing bowl because cross contamination is real.
But if you don't go sloshing things around you'll be
totally fine.
- [Producer] Also get your hair off your head.
(laughter)
- I just can't stand how she has hair on her head.
(Italian music)
(ping)
So we're gonna roll out our meat balls onto a
parchment-lined baking sheet.
I'm gonna use an ice cream scoop, but you don't have to.
You can use your hands, just make sure to wet or oil
your hands before you do so that nothing sticks.
Let's cook 'em.
Before you cook the whole batch, make a tiny meatball
to test first.
This way you can tell if the meat mixture is properly
seasoned before it's too late.
Once you've sampled it and you know it's delicious,
you're good to go.
OK, so you can't just go throwing the raw balls of meat
into your sauce.
We need to pre-cook them first.
Although roasting works, the most flavorful approach is to
sear them.
We're gonna cook them until a brown crust forms on
the outside to seal in all that juicy deliciousness
that's going on in the inside.
And then we'll toss them into the red sauce to cook
the rest of the way.
They'll probably be cooked all the way through
in about 20 minutes.
(ping)
Oh Marone!
Look at these meatballs, they're rich and juicy and tender
and full of flavor.
Your nonna is gonna be so proud of you.
And all you needed was a little help.
(Italian music)
Next a bit of ricotter. (laughs)
On my pizzer, I like ricotter.
- Don't forget the soder and always hold your heart to the
Americer flag.
(laughter)