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Spatula Diaries: Meatball madness

Photo taken by Maggie Heyn Richardson 

Versatile and family-friendly

Meatballs are a perennial favorite, but their uses go way beyond spaghetti. You can toss them in soups, serve them on skewers with a variety of sauces or slide them between crusty poboy bread. They’re great with all sorts of ground meats including veal, lamb, pork, turkey, beef, sausage or chicken, and are further enhanced by different cheeses, bits of ham or prosciutto, pesto or fresh herbs. You can roll meatballs in breadcrumbs and pan-fry them in a skillet, or you can bake them on a cookie sheet to save calories. Meatballs in any form are appealing to kids and perfect for making ahead and freezing. Work them into the weeknight line-up and save yourself some time and grief.

I never really ate meatballs growing up. Pitiful, I know. My mom’s spaghetti meant vermicelli with meat sauce, while meatballs were something illusive found only in restaurants. Now in my own kitchen, I make meatballs all the time. I love them in spaghetti, but I also love making different versions to eat with dipping sauces or to incorporate in other recipes, especially Italian wedding soup below.

Texture is a big issue with meatballs. They’ll turn out dense and dry if you don’t incorporate certain ingredients, namely breadcrumbs or fresh bread, a little milk, egg and grated cheese.

Italian Wedding Soup

For the meatballs

  • 1 pound ground chicken, or any combination that combines beef with something lighter (pork, chicken or turkey)
  • ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Several turns fresh cracked black pepper

For the soup 

  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 cup diced carrots
  • 1 cup chopped celery with leaves
  • 8 cups chicken stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, stems removed
  • ½ cup fresh asparagus, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • ¼ cup small pasta
  • Fresh Parmesan cheese for garnish

Heat oven to 350. Combine first nine ingredients, form into small meatballs about 1 inch wide and place on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot and sauté onions, carrots and celery until soft. Add stock and bay leaf and bring to boil. Add pasta and cook for about 2 minutes. Add meatballs, spinach and asparagus and turn off heat. After about 2 minutes, serve and top with fresh Parmesan cheese.

Visit Maggie Richardson at www.hungryforlouisiana.com and follow her on Twitter @mhrwriter.