Anyhoo, I think we can all agree the most iconic scene from that film is when Lady and Tramp are enjoying a romantic dinner of spaghetti and meatballs under a moonlit sky (nothing says romance like your vagabond boyfriend begging for free pasta in an alley, am I right ladies?). This scene impacted me heavily because I had never before had spaghetti and meatballs. As a kid, we had spaghetti many, many times, but the beef was cooked into the sauce, and instead of meatballs we had pieces of Chinese sausage called lap cheong added to it. I'm not complaining, mind you. There are different varieties of lap cheong, but the one we ate was made from pork and is very, very fatty. It's akin to adding fistfuls of bacon to your favorite dish -- de-lish-us. Some of the ingredients in lap cheong are not Whole30 approved (e.g. sugar and soy) so I (sadly) can't incorporate it into our day-to-day diet, but it's worth the treat every now and then. You can find lap cheong at most Asian markets (Uwajimaya, Ranch 99, etc.), so if you're interest is piqued and your arteries have some room, go buy some -- now!
My first experience with spaghetti and meatballs that I can recall is SpaghettiOs® Meatballs. Talk about a letdown. It's easily been over 20 years since I've eaten them, but I remember thinking how the meatballs were small and mealy. They didn't look like the delicious meatballs that Lady and Tramp enjoyed. The only reason I would roll mine across the plate would be so it could keep rolling off the table and onto the floor, and then the poor meatball would just roll out the door (see what I did there? ba dum ching!).
Since then, meatballs have continued to disappoint. Most Italian-style restaurants make them too big and mushy, or don't season them enough so there isn't any flavor other than from the watery spaghetti sauce they've been floating in. I really don't get restaurants that think they're so cute giving you a plate of pasta and a single (gross) meatball the size of your head. Trying to cut that thing into pieces does nothing but guarantee a meatball-sized stain on your clothes...or the restaurant carpet.
Between these disappointing experiences and a fear of failure, making my own meatballs has not been high on the list of recipes to try as they seemed rather labor-intensive and icky because you handle raw ground meat. But that was the old me! This is the new me, and the new me says, "Hah! I can try anything!" The new me is a little cocky.
Today's experiment is Czech Meatballs from the Well Fed cookbook.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400F and assemble your ingredients (egg not pictured):
- 1 clove garlic, minced (approximately 1 tsp.)
- 1/2 Tbsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. caraway seeds
- 1 tsp. ground paprika
- 1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
- 1 cup fresh parsley leaves, minced (yields about 1/4 cup)
- 1 Tbsp. grainy mustard (I used Dijon mustard because it was what I had on-hand)
- 1 large egg
- 2 pounds ground pork
Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the eggs, parsley, and spices.
Step 3: Using your hands (I know, gross) crumble the ground pork into the bowl of spice mixture. Thoroughly mix until the meat and spices are well incorporated.
Step 4: Fill a small bowl with water and keep on-hand. You will use this to lightly wet your hands so the meat mixture doesn't stick as you form your meatballs (try to refrain from childish jokes at this point; it will be difficult; maybe keep it down to no more than one or two).
Using a tablespoon to keep your meatballs uniform, scoop up a level spoonful of meat mixture and roll to form the meatballs and place on a foil-covered baking sheet about a 1/2-inch apart. Using this recipe, you will need at least 2 baking sheets.
Step 5: Place in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes minutes until golden brown and thoroughly cooked (cut one in half if you're not sure). To ensure uniform cooking, I had to bake each sheet separately.
When the meatballs are done, you may want to run a spatula under them so they don't stick to the foil.
Step 6: Serve with your choice of side and eat!
If you're not following Whole30 or any other paleo or low-carb program, this is where you toss the meatballs in with some spaghetti and your favorite sauce. Our meatballs were served with sautéed red cabbage with onions and apples from Practical Paleo, along with a side of dijon mustard mixed with homemade olive oil mayonnaise in a 1:1 ratio (again, the recipe recommends grainy mustard, but use what you have if you don't want to make an extra trip to the store).
So, did my opinion about meatballs change? Almost. I think the meatballs turned out as they were intended and had good texture, but the caraway seeds in the recipe were a little overwhelming. I'm not a fan of rye bread and it seemed to be the dominant flavor. The mayo-mustard dip mellowed it out a bit, but it just wasn't enough to tame it altogether. I will try this recipe again, but next time I will either reduce the amount of caraway seed or find an alternate spice that is a bit more palatable. Any recommendations would be appreciated! I may also try serving these with spaghetti squash and a paleo-friendly sauce for faux "spaghetti" and meatballs.
Mange!
Kimmy
My first experience with spaghetti and meatballs that I can recall is SpaghettiOs® Meatballs. Talk about a letdown. It's easily been over 20 years since I've eaten them, but I remember thinking how the meatballs were small and mealy. They didn't look like the delicious meatballs that Lady and Tramp enjoyed. The only reason I would roll mine across the plate would be so it could keep rolling off the table and onto the floor, and then the poor meatball would just roll out the door (see what I did there? ba dum ching!).
Since then, meatballs have continued to disappoint. Most Italian-style restaurants make them too big and mushy, or don't season them enough so there isn't any flavor other than from the watery spaghetti sauce they've been floating in. I really don't get restaurants that think they're so cute giving you a plate of pasta and a single (gross) meatball the size of your head. Trying to cut that thing into pieces does nothing but guarantee a meatball-sized stain on your clothes...or the restaurant carpet.
Between these disappointing experiences and a fear of failure, making my own meatballs has not been high on the list of recipes to try as they seemed rather labor-intensive and icky because you handle raw ground meat. But that was the old me! This is the new me, and the new me says, "Hah! I can try anything!" The new me is a little cocky.
Today's experiment is Czech Meatballs from the Well Fed cookbook.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400F and assemble your ingredients (egg not pictured):
- 1 clove garlic, minced (approximately 1 tsp.)
- 1/2 Tbsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. caraway seeds
- 1 tsp. ground paprika
- 1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
- 1 cup fresh parsley leaves, minced (yields about 1/4 cup)
- 1 Tbsp. grainy mustard (I used Dijon mustard because it was what I had on-hand)
- 1 large egg
- 2 pounds ground pork
Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the eggs, parsley, and spices.
Turn this...
Into this...
Step 3: Using your hands (I know, gross) crumble the ground pork into the bowl of spice mixture. Thoroughly mix until the meat and spices are well incorporated.
I can't help but think this would be a good idea for "zombie brains"
in a haunted house. Just sayin'.
Using a tablespoon to keep your meatballs uniform, scoop up a level spoonful of meat mixture and roll to form the meatballs and place on a foil-covered baking sheet about a 1/2-inch apart. Using this recipe, you will need at least 2 baking sheets.
Step 5: Place in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes minutes until golden brown and thoroughly cooked (cut one in half if you're not sure). To ensure uniform cooking, I had to bake each sheet separately.
When the meatballs are done, you may want to run a spatula under them so they don't stick to the foil.
Step 6: Serve with your choice of side and eat!
If you're not following Whole30 or any other paleo or low-carb program, this is where you toss the meatballs in with some spaghetti and your favorite sauce. Our meatballs were served with sautéed red cabbage with onions and apples from Practical Paleo, along with a side of dijon mustard mixed with homemade olive oil mayonnaise in a 1:1 ratio (again, the recipe recommends grainy mustard, but use what you have if you don't want to make an extra trip to the store).
Voila!
So, did my opinion about meatballs change? Almost. I think the meatballs turned out as they were intended and had good texture, but the caraway seeds in the recipe were a little overwhelming. I'm not a fan of rye bread and it seemed to be the dominant flavor. The mayo-mustard dip mellowed it out a bit, but it just wasn't enough to tame it altogether. I will try this recipe again, but next time I will either reduce the amount of caraway seed or find an alternate spice that is a bit more palatable. Any recommendations would be appreciated! I may also try serving these with spaghetti squash and a paleo-friendly sauce for faux "spaghetti" and meatballs.
Mange!
Kimmy
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