Mario Carbone, the world-renowned chef behind the Carbone eatery empire, is serving up another essential Italian-American recipe from his Carbone cookbook. The New York-based culinary kingpin, who previously shared an elevated linguine vongole recipe with Maxim, is now revealing his signature method for can’t-miss meatballs, just in time for National Meatball Day on March 9.

“For our meatballs, we use sweet Italian sausage instead of ground pork, which provides distinctly Italian-American umami,” said Carbone, a cofounder of Major Food Group. “We also use milk-soaked bread instead of breadcrumbs, which evokes a panada, the centuries-old European technique for making hearty boiled bread to infuse with all sorts of flavors, both savory and sweet. The meatballs are gently fried in olive oil and smothered in tomato sauce before being cooked low and slow to a precise internal temperature, just like a Sunday roast. We insist on mixing the blend by hand, gently folding the ingredients with the same delicacy required to make a soufflé, to achieve the tenderest result.” 

Mario’s Meatballs

PREP TIME: 35 minutes, COOK TIME: 1 hour

Meatballs

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of day-old or stale white bread, crust removed, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons of whole milk
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil, plus more
• ½ cup of finely chopped yellow onion
• 12 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ⅓ cup of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons of kosher salt
• ½ pound of ground beef, preferably 80/20 
• 12 ounces ground veal
• 12 ounces of sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup of finely grated 24-month-aged Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions:

• Place the bread and milk in a small bowl and soak together.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent but not browned, 16-18 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and scrape everything into a large bowl.
• Stir the parsley and salt into the large bowl and cool to room temperature.
• Once cooled, add the ground meats, egg, and Parmigiano-Reggiano to the bowl, and gently combine until evenly mixed.
• Add the soaked bread last, discarding any milk that was not soaked up, and continue to mix gently, making sure not to overmix.
• Form into 2 ¼ inch balls; you should get about 22 meatballs.
• Transfer to a plate and refrigerate while you make the tomato sauce.

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 5 ½ cups of canned crushed tomatoes
• 3 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt 
• 2 ¼ teaspoons of granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Instructions:

• In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
• Once the sauce comes to a simmer, remove the pan from the heat.

Alternative:

• Two Jars of Carbone Fine Foods Marinara Sauce

To Serve

Ingredients:

• Olive oil as needed to cook
• ¾ cup of finely grated 24-month-aged Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more to freshly grate for garnish.
• ¼ cup finishing olive oil
• Picked basil leaves, fried, to garnish

Cooking Instructions:

• Ladle about 1 heaping cup of the tomato sauce into a large roasting pan or ceramic baking dish and spread over the bottom; keep the remaining sauce nearby while you cook.
• Heat a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat, and coat the bottom with a thin layer of olive oil.
• Working in batches, add just enough meatballs to fit loosely in the pan and cook, turning as needed until lightly browned all over, 4 to 6 minutes per batch.
• Add the cooked meatballs to the roasting pan with tomato sauce, nestling them into a single layer.
• Once all done, top the meatballs with ¾ cups of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
• Heat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Cover the pan of meatballs tightly with foil, and bake until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 20-25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, rewarm the tomato sauce over low heat.
• Once the meatballs come out of the oven, uncover the pan and gently transfer each meatball to the pot of sauce, turning each to ensure they’re coated in sauce.
• Finish cooking the meatballs in the sauce until its internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, about 5 minutes, and remove the pan from the heat.

Serving Instructions:

• Spoon the meatballs onto a large serving platter or individual dishes and top with spoonfuls of sauce.
• Freshly grate Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top and drizzle with the finishing olive oil.
• Top each meatball with a fried basil leaf. Serves six.