#meatballs

#meatballs

While both spaghetti and meatballs are quintessential Italian dishes, they aren't traditionally served together in Italy. The combination of meatballs, called polpette, with tomato sauce and spaghetti stems from an influx of Italians immigrating to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s, where they found meat to be much more affordable and began to use it more liberally in their cooking.

There are no strict rules for meatballs, as my 15 years of professional cooking experience at various magazine test kitchens and cooking for food photography shoots have showed me. Meatballs, in essence, are just meat, seasonings and a binder. They can be mixed delicately or vigorously, made from a meat substitute, flavored with a variety of ingredients (herbs, spices, cheeses) and cooked any number of ways. But while there's no single formula, there are a few principles for ingredients and techniques that,

These Asian-spiced meatballs combine ground turkey, ginger, cilantro, and garlic, creating a spicy-sweet blend that pairs perfectly with a sweet-and-sour chili sauce.

According to Chef Fabio Viviani, to make meatballs flavorful, soft, and juicy, the key is to use ricotta and parmesan cheese instead of traditional milk-soaked bread.