Looks like we have some meatballs competition.

Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Difficulty: 1/5

Ingredient Availability: 4/5

I’ve analyzed a meatball recipe before, so this one might have the ability to take the crown. When I look for a meatball, I don’t want a meatloaf, which I think I said in the last meatball analysis. I want something that’s unique and would pair nicely with tomato sauce and pasta. With this recipe, I have high hopes as it contains a pretty good amount of cheese and a meat I’ve never tried before: veal.

Key Ingredients and Omissions:

The only ingredient that is odd and difficult to find would be veal. I’ve never seen it at a normal grocery store and had to go to a butcher to find it. Other than that, the ingredients are pretty simple and easy to find. It’s also worth noting that this recipe calls for roasted garlic puree, which you should make ahead of time. It’s really easy to make, so it’s not too big a deal.

Tools:

• Food Processor

• Kitchen Towels

Cooking Review:

Prep: 30 minutes

In order to prepare for this recipe, I diced the onions, chopped the bread, shredded the cheeses, and chopped the parsley. The cheese took the longest here.

Soaking bread and wringing out onion: 24 minutes

I added a cup of milk to my chopped up bread and let it soak for 15 minutes. In the mean time, I pureed the onion and squeezed out the water through a kitchen towel. I also separated the beef and veal into equal 3/4 lb portions, as the packs they came in were 1 lb. Once the bread had been soaked, I squeezed the excess milk out through another kitchen towel.

Mixing and forming balls: 17 minutes

I added all the ingredients into a bowl and mixed them until just combined. I then used a 1/4 cup measure and spoon to form the meat into balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with oiled parchment paper.

Baking: 17 minutes

I baked the meatballs for 17 minutes until the internal temp was 155 Fahrenheit. I turned the sheet in the oven half way through.

Analysis:

Although the texture of these meatballs aren’t quite as good as those from Guy Fieri, being more soft and homogenous, I think the flavors were more interesting. Somehow, there was a slight, but noticeable, sweetness to these meatballs. On top of that, the cheese did a great job of flavoring the meat, being one of the flavors at the forefront. I’m not sure if the veal was responsible for the sweetness or not, but I wouldn’t say it stands out as something obvious. Back to the texture, the meatballs had no problem staying together, but are extremely tender in your mouth. With all this said, I think these slightly edge out the meatballs from Guy. If there was some more browning or a caramelized crust, these would be nearly perfect, but I’m giving them an 8/10.