Spaghetti and Meatballs

This was my first effort at making meatballs and I was winging it pretty much all the way. First, I needed to halve the recipe as I wasn't going to be feeding 12-16 people. Second, the recipe is posted at Epicurious and I was able to read reviews of the recipe. Based on those reviews I decided to try Mario Batali's sauce (posted at the Food Network site) rather than the sauce in the recipe. I have posted a separate review of that sauce (which I liked quite a bit).

The meat balls were good but in halving the recipe I ran into some structural problems, i.e. I had to add quite a few more bread crumbs than the recipe called for to get the meat to form into balls. Once that was achieved I baked the meatballs (again listening to suggestions from the recipe reviewers at the Epicurious site) rather than browning them in olive oil as the recipe directed. After baking, they are added to the sauce (on simmer) for another 20-30 minutes.

This is pretty labour-intensive but if you enjoy cooking, it is not a bad way to spend a snowy afternoon. I like the flavor of the meatballs although the texture was a little too smooth for me (I probably overmixed when I was adding the extra breadcrumbs). And the recipe calls for lemon zest in the meat mixture as well. Reviewers at the site are kind of split on that addition -- and the reviewers in my home were split as well.

Overall, not a bad first effort. I will try meatballs again but with another recipe for comparison. I also think I will try it with all ground beef as opposed to the beef/pork/veal mix this recipe called for.

Note: even halved, this recipe makes a TON of meatballs, more than enough for meatball subs the next day if you are so inclined.