Why You Should Never Make These 6 Mistakes to Get Perfect Meatballs

Fried, baked, in sauce, with meat, vegetarian and even couscous: those who prepare meatballs never make mistakes. Yet there is always some mistake around the corner. Whether you follow grandma's recipe or you like to experiment, cooking meatballs can be a real ritual: ruining the work done due to some careless mistake would be a real shame. Too firm or loose dough, uneven cooking or even worse, an unbalanced flavor: here's how to avoid gross errors and bring to the table meatballs worthy of the name.

1. Choosing Poor Quality Ingredients

To bring to the table meatballs worthy of the name you have to pay attention to the choice of ingredients: it is important that they are of quality. Meatballs may also be a "recycling" recipe but this does not mean that you can use anything.

As for the minced meat, it is better to choose a mixture of beef and pork: the percentage of fat, in fact, should be between 15% and 20%. The important thing is not to use excessively lean meat and that it is fresh and of certain origin. If you have some already cooked meat in the fridge, you can use it to prepare meatballs, as in the case of boiled meat: in that case you have to be careful to correctly balance the mixture with dry and wet ingredients, as we explain in point 2.

2. Not Balancing The Flavors

In the kitchen, balance is everything and meatballs are no exception: the flavors and consistencies, for a perfect result, must be perfectly balanced. Meat, eggs, breadcrumbs soaked in milk, parmesan, breadcrumbs, garlic, salt and pepper: these are the ingredients and this is the order to follow. As for the bread, it is better to choose wholemeal, less rubbery than white bread, but always if squeezed well, in order to eliminate the excess milk that could "loosen" your dough.

Egg topic: the ratio to respect is one egg for every 400 grams of minced meat, no more and no less; but, if your mixture is too loose and difficult to work, gradually add a lightly beaten egg or a boiled and mashed potato. If you use very mature parmesan, reduce the salt or increase the spices and herbs, to avoid making the meatballs excessively salty.

3. Not Tasting Them

Tasting the meatballs is a fundamental step and it is possible to do it without running any risk: take a very small portion, form a ball and cook it for a few minutes, just long enough to avoid a bad stomach ache; then taste, to understand if and how to balance the mixture. Once you have found the balance, you can proceed to form and cook the rest of the meatballs.

4. Breaking Them Up During Cooking

When the dough is too "slow", that is, its bread and meat component is not sufficient compared to the liquids, it can happen that the meatballs break or fall apart during cooking. To avoid this, just put them in the fridge for 20 minutes, after having formed them and before cooking them: in this way they will compact better and the cooking phase will be much easier.

5. Overcooking or Undercooking

Each meatball has its own cooking method and certain rules must be respected. Fried, baked, in sauce or stewed: whatever cooking method you choose, it is important that the meatballs are well compacted, so as to avoid them breaking during cooking.

If you choose to fry them, it is better to use peanut oil – much lighter than extra virgin olive oil – wait for it to reach temperature, then dip the meatballs to brown them. If you prefer them with sauce: tradition says that in this case they should be fried first and then left to cook slowly in the tomato sauce. For a "lighter" meatball, you can however brown them lightly in a drizzle of oil until a light crust has formed, then cover them with the tomato sauce. Finally, the meatballs in the oven, to be cooked at a temperature of 356°F/180°C for at least 20-30 minutes, depending on the size, after having passed them in breadcrumbs and brushed with oil.

6. Being Shy With Quantities

Making too few meatballs is not only a mistake but can also be the cause of great disagreements in family or friends. If there are too few, who gets the last one? And then, let's face it, meatballs are also excellent the next day, cold or slightly reheated in the oven: so always prepare a few more. Last but not least, if you prepare the ones with sauce, put some aside and use plenty of sauce to dress a delicious spaghetti, a "recycling" dish that has no rivals.