Meatballs for Lil' Bow Wow

I am so embarrassed to admit, but I LOVE lil' Bow Wow movies. All of them. I am watching "Like Mike" right now, and I can't stop. Roll Bounce? Loved it. Tokyo Drift? Awesome. I can't help myself! I knew James and I were meant to be when we decided to rent Lottery Ticket one night on a date. It wasn't until James that I was willing to admit to my love of Bow Wow movies.

(Off kilter, but I think this love affair started with Drum Line, which doesn't have Bow Wow in it, but was a similar type of movie that I have probably seen 20 times, at least.)

Anyway, this has nothing to do with meatballs. But if I were to try and tie this all in together, I'd say the last time I watched a movie like this, I ended up watching random tv (food network and Bravo) and Barefoot Contessa was on. I don't typically watch her show, but when it's on, I love the food that she makes. I finally decided it was time for me to try to make some.

My friend Jill and I were talking about meatballs recently, and she told me that she never tries to make meatballs because she's afraid to try and fry them. I told her that all the times I made meatballs, they were always baked and put into a slow cookers. Then, boom! The next meatball recipe I find, it has me frying meatballs. I'm not sure I'm too good at it, as my perfectly shaped spheres started to look like little geometric shapes while frying. There has to be a trick I don't know for keeping them circular. Any ideas???


Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 2
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): a little more challenging, but not impossible
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4

Meatballs
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (2 slices bread, crusts removed)
1/8 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 Tbl fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup warm water
Vegetable oil
Olive oil
Tomato Sauce
Spaghetti noodles, cooked 

 Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 the beaten egg, and the water into a mixing bowl. Combine lightly with fork. Using hands, form lightly into 2-in diameter meatballs (you will have about 7-8 meatballs). Pour equal amounts of olive oil and vegetable oil into a large frying pan until depth is about 1/4 inch high. Heat the oil. Very carefully, place the meatballs (in batches if necessary) in the oil, and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or fork. (This should take about 10 minutes per batch.) Don't crowd the meatballs. Transfer meatballs to plate covered in paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan. Add the tomato sauce to pan, and bring to simmer. Add meatballs back into sauce, cover, and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Add spaghetti noodles to sauce, toss, and serve hot with meatballs.

* Note: if you are using a non-stick pan, you won't need to do anything to your pan after you discard the oil and before adding tomato sauce. If you are using a stainless steal pan, you should add a little red wind to the pan and scrape up all the bits on the bottom of pan (de-glaze) before adding the tomato sauce.

These are some of the best meatballs I have ever had. The original recipe from Barefoot Contessa calls for 1/4 lb ground pork, and 1/4 lb ground veal. I opted out of the veal simply because the grocery store I was at didn't sell ground veal in quantities less than 1 lb, and since it's pretty expensive, I didn't want to waste the rest.

As for the tomato sauce, you can use whatever you like. The recipe for sauce I put in the "Impress Me Spaghetti" blog post would be good, or the sauce in the "Best Lasagna Ever" post. Or you can just buy jarred sauce (although it won't be nearly as good).

Anyway, these are super super good. The frying part is a little tricky if you actually care that the meatballs be perfect circles. At least for me anyway.