I probably made 40-50 meatball recipes searching for the "one" before landing on this. I was convinced that since so many recipes had 2 or 3 different meats that was the best way to go. I made some that were nearly 20 ingredients deep, and they were all pretty good but I always kept looking. After making this one, I've never made another. Of course, it's most likely the simplest that I attempted.
There is a restaurant in Chicago called Quartino. The head chef wrote a book, and this was in it. I don't use the exact process from the book, but the ingredients are the same. This is an all veal recipe, and to me that alone makes the perfect meatball. These end up pretty loose. It is not a dense mix.
1 lbs ground veal
2 large eggs
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tbs fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated good Parmesan, I use a zester
1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Mix everything loosely. I use a medium size cookie scoop to portion about half the batch into golf ball sized meatballs. Bake those in your grill or oven at 400 to an internal temp of 155-160.
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The other half batch I use a 1/2 tsp to make tiny meatballs. I then freeze them solid until I make a batch of Italian wedding soup. It's hard to choose a favorite all time soup, but this has to be in my top 5.
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