"Meatball Time!"

I've been having some typing issues lately. My brain seems to get ahead of my fingers, which makes sense because I never learned how to type the "proper" way. From growing up with AIM, I learned to type fast, knowing that friends on the other side could see that "MRYHAUTBOIS is typing..." Little did they know I was sweating on the other end, hoping they didn't notice how long it took me to respond, and how long my response was. Stupid, I know, but I did learn to peck away pretty speedily. And whatever my method is, my brain usually knows what to do and where to go on the keyboard. No thanks to elementary school. I never got to use those cool looking typing programs. I don't know how it is these days, but each classroom had 4 or 5 computers in it, which we only got to use during indoor recess on rainy days. So the computers were for the four kids who got there first. I've never felt the need to run anywhere, so I never got to use the computers. Anyway...when I gchat with Jacob, I get a little ahead of myself and hit "enter" before i get all right letters in the last word. It's frustrating.

Rant over.

I don't know if anyone else has seen this, but Yahoo has hired a crazy Italian guy to do 5 minute Italian cooking videos online. At first I thought this guy was just insane, but he's growing on me. And let's face it, I have a weakness for Italian food. So after my fresh pasta adventure, I saw one of his videos and got a craving for meatballs. I loved the idea of putting ricotta cheese in the meatball and simmering them in sauce, infusing the sauce with meaty goodness while keeping the meatball moist.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
1 shallot, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

If you want to add some parsley, basil, and oregano, more power to you. I was just going for simple here. I "doubled" Fabio's recipe and froze most of them so I can make meatballs and fresh pasta for Jacob when he visits at the end of the week for our 3 year anniversary!

Just follow Fabio's directions on how to make the perfect meatball and you'll be all set! You will need to make some tomato sauce, which I had simmering while I made the meatballs. It took basically no time at all.

He claims that the meatballs sear in the pan, but the brownness really comes from the tomato, not the meat, browning. So if you prefer a deeper, darker flavored meatball I recommend searing them in a frying pan on each side for a few minutes before adding them to the sauce. Don't fry the crap out of them though because you want the sauce and steam to be able to penetrate the meatball and keep them moist.