Monday, October 8, 2012

The Meatball Shop's Spicy Pork Meatballs

A few months back I visited The Meatball Shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and stopped in for a "quick snack".  Famous last words... of course the meatballs disappeared from my plate before I got a photo for you guys.  I need to stop doing that!  

One order of meatballs comes with 4, and you pick the sauce you want on top.  They also have sliders, heroes, and meatball sandwiches on their menu.  I just wound up getting meatballs that day, and my favorite was the spicy pork meatballs topped with classic tomato sauce.

When we got the bill, they also gave us a little recipe card as a souvenir - and luckily it was for their spicy pork meatballs! Yay!!

I wound up trying out the recipe for a special occasion dinner at home.  I followed the recipe exactly and used good quality ingredients which really made a big difference!  Try and make the extra effort to get good quality ground pork.  Comparing the two instances I made the meatballs: the freshly ground pork I got from the butcher at Eataly resulted in meatballs SOO much better than when I used regular ground pork from my local supermarket chain.  The meat from Eataly resulted in juicier and lighter meatballs, so worth it!  

For the sauce, I made tomato sauce from scratch using a recipe from Scarpetta, Scott Conant's famous Italian restaurant. I LOVE the freshness of homemade sauce, but you can definitely just go with canned tomato sauce to save time.  I'll save Scarpetta's recipe for another post :)

Spicy Pork Meatballs [recipe from The Meatball Shop]

Check out the delicious recipe below courtesy of The Meatball Shop.  It has a hint of heat from the hot cherry peppers, and the fresh white bread (as opposed to breadcrumbs) helps make the meatballs less dense. Great recipe!

Spicy Pork Meatballs Recipe from The Meatball Shop
Spicy Pork Meatballs from The Meatball Shop (text retyped from the recipe card above)

Makes about 2 dozen meatballs

2 TB Olive Oil
2 pounds Pork Shoulder, ground
1 TB + 1 tsp Salt
4 jarred Hot Cherry Peppers, Minced
1/4 cup Hot Cherry Pepper Pickling Liquid
4 slices fresh white bread, minced
3 large Eggs

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Drizzle the olive oil into a 9" x 13" baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface.  Set aside.

Combine the ground pork, salt, cherry peppers, pickling liquid, bread and eggs in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.

Roll the mixture into round, golf ball-size meatballs (about 1 1/2"), making sure to pack the meat firmly.  Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid.  The meatballs should be touching one another.

Meatballs all lined up ready to roast!
Roast for 20 mins, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through.  A meat thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball should read 165 degrees.

Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 mins in the baking dish before serving.

Top with tomato sauce, fresh basil, and grated parmesan cheese.  

Serve with a side of pasta.

Spicy Pork Meatballs with a side of fettuccine and homemade tomato sauce

Enjoy!

Piggy KL



Locations cited:

170 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211

200 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010

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