Ingredients
Makes 6 servings; 18 to 20 meatballs
Step 1
1. Heat the oven to 325°F. Put the fresh bread in a bowl, cover it with water, and let it soak for a minute or so. Pour off the water and wring out the bread, then crumble and tear it into tiny pieces.
Step 2
2. Combine the bread with all the remaining ingredients except the tomato sauce in a medium mixing bowl, adding them in the order they are listed. Add the dried bread crumbs last to adjust for wetness: the mixture should be moist wet, not sloppy wet.
Step 3
3. Shape the meat mixture into handball-sized meatballs and space them evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The meatballs will be firm but still juicy and gently yielding when they're cooked through. (At this point, you can cool the meatballs and hold them in the refrigerator for as long as a couple of days or freeze them for the future.)
Step 4
4. Meanwhile, heat the tomato sauce in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate the meatballs comfortably.
Step 5
5. Dump the meatballs into the pan of sauce and nudge the heat up ever so slightly. Simmer the meatballs for half an hour or so (this isn't one of those cases where longer is better) so they can soak up some sauce. Keep them there until it's time to eat.
Step 6
6. Serve the meatballs 3 to a person in a healthy helping of the red sauce, and hit everybody's portion-never the pan-with a fluffy mountain of grated cheese. Reserve the leftover tomato sauce (it will be super-extra-delicious) and use it anywhere tomato sauce is called for in this book.
Leave a Review
Reviews (21)
Back to TopI used the recipe as a guide. My dish turned out excellent. I served the meatballs with homemade tomato gravy and rice.
Smitty
Tennessee Newby
7/18/2022
Great recipe, thanks for sharing. As a change, I used combination of ground turkey, veal and pork. Light and moist!
Anonymous
Pittsburgh, PA
4/6/2019
Fantastic! Modified with toasting pine nuts, adding extra roasted garlic cloves (6), 1 less egg, and 1 tablespoon less of the breadcrumbs.
Anonymous
Brooklyn, NY
2/22/2019
Handball-sized? What game of handball? I am not trying to be hardball (lol) about this, but I think giving a universal measurement like 2 to 3 inches (5-8 cm) would be wiser.
jvpetc
Chicago, IL
3/13/2016
I haven't made these yet as the recipe just popped up on my Facebook feed. However, with the exception of the pine nuts, this looks exactly like my Nana's recipe! I never knew where she got the raisin idea; she took the recipe with her when she passed away almost 20 years ago. I will have to give these a try, and see if they measure up to hers -- which p, of course, I can still taste, and now I'm drooling, and remembering her fondly, and missing her dearly.
cmjross
Cleveland, Ohio
12/27/2015
These meatballs are moist and flavorful. I would suggest swapping the raisins out for currants, smaller size works like a charm! I usually omit the pine nuts, either way family loves them, a definite keeper.
debsart
New York
3/11/2015
Amazing. These are so simple and so moist. A new favorite. I can't imagine bothering to make any other meatball recipe. Be sure to make the sauce too!
candylc
Chicago
1/29/2014
These are delicious. You have to be careful with the oven time so that they don't over cook, but the raisins and pecorino are a unique combination. I had these with a small portion of spaghetti, a simple mesclun salad with truffle oil viniagrette and a bottle of red wine. Great Saturday night dinner. I actually live down the street from Frankie's, these meatballs do them justice ;)
smariel
Brooklyn, NY
3/3/2012
These meatballs were good, but I was really disappointed with the flavor given the reviews. The exception was the raisins, which were a really nice touch, so I'm planning on continuing to use those in my meatballs.
akalish
New York, NY
1/23/2011
These are the best meatballs I've ever eaten. I made them exactly to specifications, along with the Frankies' sauce linked to in the recipe, which is also great.
Big___Al
PA
10/28/2010
These are the best meatballs I have ever made. I think I learned from this recipe that I have been over-cooking meatballs in the past by cooking them in the sauce too long. Cooked this way they are nice and tender. The pine nuts and raisins are great, although I prefer raisins chopped up a little bit first. As far as I am concerned, these are perfect.
njnknl2000
10/17/2010
Question: what would traditionally be served with the meatballs?
sandy622
Texas
8/25/2010
This is one of the best recipes I have tried from Epicurious. The sauce was easy. My only adaptations were to drain some of the fat from the sauce, use a hand held mixer, just a bit after 3 hours cooking to make it more like a sauce. I made the meatballs with only one change: I chopped up the raisins. This really works and is fun to make.
Anonymous
NH
8/14/2010
I've been wanting meatballs like I had at a friend's family's house years ago. These tasted exactly how I remembered, and were very tender, too. I omitted the raisins and pine nuts to be more like their version. This will be my meatball recipe for life.
Anonymous
CA
8/13/2010
...toasting the pine nuts would have been a good thing,and I added way more cheese, maybe about 1 cup in total...Rao's are way better! and way more tender. Will not make these again. However, the tomato sauce is terrific!
Lisa2
Mid-town, Toronto
8/13/2010
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