Amazing Mouthwatering Low Carb Ricotta Meatballs – In his 1891 cookbook, “La Scienza in Cucina e l’arte di Mangiar Bene” (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well), Pellegrino Artusi wrote:
“Do not believe that I have the pretension to teach you how to make meatballs. This is a dish that everyone knows how to make starting with the donkey, which was perhaps the first to give the model to mankind.”
So with that out of the way, we will be a little pretentious here and share a very simple recipe for PERECT Ricotta Meatballs.
INGREDIENTS Amazing Mouthwatering Low Carb Ricotta Meatballs (polpette)
1 pound ground veal.
One cup ricotta cheese.
1 egg beaten
3/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (get the real stuff, not the stuff in a can with cellulose)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional).
1 tsp onion powder
One tsp garlic powder.
1 28oz jar of marinara sauce (don’t be surprised if the jar size is smaller due to shrinkflation!)
1/2 cup of water
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350F. To a large baking sheet, put down a layer of aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray or olive oil and set aside.
Beat one egg and add to a large mixing bowl. To that, add ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, onion and garlic powder (and that pinch of Cayenne for a little heat) and mix well.
Add veal, and mix just well enough to bring everything together. Don’t overmix this as that will make the meatballs tough… and nobody likes tough meatballs.
Using a small ice cream scoop, make the meatballs, handling them as little as possible. Each meatball should only be about an inch in diameter. (the size of a golf ball)
After you’ve scooped them out of the mixing bowl, arrange them on the baking sheet giving them plenty of room on all sides.
Bake them for 15 minutes… you don’t wanna fully cook them, searing them in the oven instead of a frying pan gently locks in the moisture.
While the meatballs are in the oven, mix the marinara and water and bring it to a light simmer in a large, deep skillet.
Use a slotted spoon to remove meatballs from baking sheet and place them in the marinara. The sauce should cover the meatballs completely.
Allow meatballs to gently simmer for another 15 minutes. Gently remove the meatballs from the marinara with a clean slotted spoon. (Use a clean one, as the one you used earlier came in contact with partially cooked meat.) Sprinkle additional Parmigiano-Reggiano on top and serve with spaghetti… or alone as a small plate appetizer.
Yields about 32-36 meatballs
