Ricotta Meatballs

A lot of meatball recipes require milk-soaked bread crumbs to serve as a binding agent. With this recipe we use ricoota cheese and penko instead. In addition to making the final mixture bind together nicely, it adds its own unique and subtle flavor to the dish.

Nov 15, 2019 - updated Sept 2023

INGREDIENTS (makes about 45 larger size meatballs or about 63 "ping-pong ball" size. Figure about 3 -4 per person.

  • 1 lg onion (about 1 cup minced)
  • 1/4 cup minced or chopped garlic(from a jar is OK)
  • 2 eggs (beaten)
  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1/2 lbs Italian Sweet Sausage
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 15 oz carton of ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup penko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsely
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 5 Tbs olive oil
  • Your sauce,,see notes below

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

1. In a large bowl, combine everything except for the last 2 items listed above. Mix it all together thoroughly. The best way to do this is with your washed hands. Once its nicely combined, form into 1 inch balls (or whatever size fits your needs) and place on the prepared cookie sheets. Unless you plan on feeding a large group, you won't be cooking them all so its OK to freeze for use at a later time those not being used. (see notes below).

2. Prior to placing in the oven, brush the meatballs with a bit of olive oil. Bake 22 minutes (or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees). Flip them over at the 10-12 minute point to guarantee even browning. When you remove them from the oven they may appear to you to be underdone, but they are going to simmer in the pan with your sauce for a while and its important that the final product not be overdone.

3. While the meatballs are cooking, heat your sauce. I like to use a classic marinara and my sister's Marinara Sauce is an excellent choice. I wouldn't use canned or bottled sauce from the supermarket shelf, but there are some fairly decent ones that you'll find ready made in the refrigerated section. Buitoni makes a fairly nice one and can be found in most stores.

4.Once the sauce is heated over a low burner (just simmering), add the meatballs and cover the pan and continue to cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Now you are ready to serve!

CHEF's NOTES:

  • You can substitute ground veal, or make a mixture of ground veal and ground beef. I like using 4 parts ground beef and 1 part ground italian sweet sausage, but have done half & half mixtures before which can present a very flaverfull meatball.
  • You do not need to use a marinara sauce; a light beef sauce works well. You could add a little sour creme to the beef sauce for a whole different look and taste (Meatballs Stroganov!)..
  • You can roll smaller balls and serve them as appetizers.
  • There are 2 methods in dealing with the leftovers. (1) Cook them all at the same time and freeze the pre-cooked meatballs for future use. In this case all you need to do is drop the frozen meatballs in the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. (2) If you freeze the uncooked balls, they will need to be cooked prior to adding to your sauce. A 350 degree oven for 25 minutes will work fine.
  • Place individual meatballs on a cookie sheet so that they are not touching and place in the refer for an hour or two. Then transfer them all to a large freezer baggie or tupperware and return to the freezer where they won't stick together.
 
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