Nana's Meatballs

Can a Jewish mother have a good recipe for Italian meatballs? Yes she can and I set out to make my mother proud. I have never made meatballs but I figured I'd give these a try.  I remember both my Nana and my mom making them but I don't remember how they came out. My sister Sheryl filled in my memory gaps for this blog.

Sheryl stated with a chuckle that Mom's often came out dry. Perhaps she had a habit of over cooking them? Or the oven's temperature wasn't calibrated? Nana's, on the other hand, were always moist.

Lumpy but MOIST!

Well, I am happy to say that I followed in Nana's footsteps with regards to this recipe as my meatballs came out moist. The only discrepany would be that after cooking, they should have correctly been called meat lumps. As I browned them in the skillet pan, they tended to flatten out on each side. Before you know it, my balls became lumpy, almost squares.

I really think the milk helped to keep them moist. I watched them like a hawk too, making sure each side was cooked the same amount of time and not overdone. I then put them in the sauce to simmer and finish cooking.


Nana's Meatballs by Abby Deeds

1. 1 to 2 lbs ground beef
2. 1 egg per pound of meat
3. 1/2 cup milk per pound of meat
4. 1 slice of bread per pound of meat
5/ 1/2 cup parmesean cheese
6. Add onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper (Mom did not specify any amount.)
***I would also recommend possibly adding some Italian seasoning.
7. Combine, mix well, make meatballs, each the size of a golf ball
8. Lightly brown meatballs in skillet
9. Add meatballs to sauce
10. Cook 45 minutes to 1 hour
11. Serve over your favorite pasta with Parmesan cheese.

***I ADDED some bread crumbs to further bind everything together, but not a lot, maybe only a 1/3 of a cup.

Mom also wrote down these suggestions for jazzing up your pasta sauce:

Add onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, fresh onions, green peppers, tomato paste, or basil.