Spending more nights cooking at home? Try my simple New Jersey meatballs

Who doesn't love meatballs?

It's certainly a thing across New Jersey as nearly every family has a recipe going back to grandma, or great grandma.

There isn't an Italian restaurant in the Garden state that won't tell you that their meatballs are the best.

The great thing about Small Business Monday is I've had the privilege to taste meatballs from every corner of the state, and yes, Jersey is definitely the meatball capital of the world; Italy's got nothin' on Jersey.

Of course, with rising costs for just about everything, many people are spending a lit more time cooking at home.

Here's my simple meatball recipe that anyone can make:

Photo via Bill Spadea

The simple New Jersey meatball recipe I make at home

Start with a meatloaf mix, we buy ours at the PA Dutch farmers market in Kingston.

Then add ground beef; I use a pound of 75/25 because fat is where the flavor is at. Total of about 3 pounds of meat into a glass bowl.

Then in a separate smaller bowl, a cup and a half of bread crumbs; we use the black box of panko crumbs because there are no weird ingredients, and certainly no seed oils.

To the crumbs pour over about a cup of raw milk.

Let them sit until the crumbs absorb the liquid and it becomes almost paste-like. Add two raw eggs to the meat, as well as salt, pepper, cayenne, chopped fresh Italian parsley, chopped raw onion, grated carrot and celery salt.

Give it a little mix with your hands, then add in the wet bread crumb mixture.

Mix so each ingredient is as even as possible throughout the meat, but don't over-mix.

Then form the meatballs, bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a tennis ball. In a large pan, heat some beef tallow.

On a medium heat, get the meatballs in the tallow. Let them sit on each side until brown.

Once they are brown on all sides, take them out and set aside. For me, I make a simple red sauce for the meatballs to go in and cook the rest of the way.

Photo via Bill Spadea & Canva

A simple red sauce (or gravy) to finish the meatballs

The sauce is super simple.

Again, start with tallow or olive oil. Heat the fat and add chopped onion, celery and carrots.

Once you can almost see through the onions, add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, then add a few cloves of chopped or crushed garlic.

Give the garlic about 45 seconds in the hot oil or tallow, then deglaze the mix with some white wine.

Once the mix comes back to a simmer, add in two cans of whole peeled tomatoes. You can cut them up with scissors in the can or let them cook and break them apart in the sauce with a spatula.

Once simmering, add a little more salt and get the meatballs into the sauce, or gravy if you grew up in South Jersey.

Enjoy, they are perfect for sandwiches or over pasta.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own.

Report a correction 👈

FOLLOW BILL: Join the Bill Spadea's New Jersey channel on our Facebook page.