Photo: Leigh Loftus
There’s a fantastic restaurant in the River North neighborhood of Chicago called J. Rocco Italian Table. Known for it’s unassuming “honest Italian food” the menu offers everything you would expect from a neighborhood Italian eatery in one of the best culinary cities in the United States. Oh, yes, I’m biased.
At J. Rocco Italian Table, your meal kicks off with a heaping platter of fresh bread and top notch olive oil — the kind you would never use for cooking because it tastes so good on its own.
There are enough starter courses to assemble a meal on its own, the grilled octopus with light lemon dressing, a round, plump scallop in pesto and an ample serving of Michigan burrata with “Mom’s Gravy” (the chef’s tomato sauce).
Pizzas with honey-wheat crusts and toppings like duck-sausage are grilled and the pastas are flavorful and perfectly cooked.
The star of the show here though, are the meatballs, available in five varieties, including lamb meatballs with mint and a jolt of chili, lighter-than-air shrimp meatballs in lemon-butter sauce, chicken meatballs in a creamy roasted red pepper sauce, beef meatballs served “Calabrese style” in a rich, hearty au jus and pork meatballs, which have all of the traditional flavors that you might expect, with oregano and fresh tomato sauce.
Photo: Leigh Loftus
Having tried every meatball on the list (not all in one sitting, although that would be especially impressive) I’d like to say I’m somewhat of a connoisseur.
Though J. Rocco Italian Table serves meatballs ala carte, I feel confident that there is no better way to eat meatballs than atop a heaping plate of spaghetti and classic gravy.
My recipe has been handed down from family friends who I believe are Italian, so I am almost sure I can get away with calling this one of the best meatball recipes you’ll ever make.
After preparing these, serve them with your favorite sauce and pasta or on a meatball sub smothered in fresh mozzarella cheese.
Photo: Leigh Loftus
- 1 lb. ground sirloin
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp. mayo
- 3 slices bread, moistened (for best results use 2 slices of corn bread and one slice of white bread, but any will work)
- ½ cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ¾ cup grated fresh Parmesan
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- Mix the meat, egg and mayo until fully combined. In the meantime, run the moistened bread through a food processor to break down into tiny pieces. It won't completely crumble due to the moisture, but that's okay. If you don't have a food processor you can use your hands to tear the bread into tiny, tiny pieces.
- Add bread to meat mixture, combining well. You don't want the bread to be visible, otherwise they'll be obvious in your meatballs. If your bread has a thick crust, you'll want to remove that as well. Even though these are best with a combination of white bread/corn bread, I've made them using entirely whole wheat and they've turned out great. The different types of bread all lend different flavors to the meatballs but the biggest difference is in the texture.
- Add seasonings and cheese to the meat mixture and mix well. I use my (freshly washed) hands for this step because I really haven't found a mixing implement that does as good of a job at blending everything together.
- Preheat oven to 350. On a baking sheet, form meatballs into shapes - you'll get about 18-24 meatballs depending on their size. Bake until cooked through and then simmer on stove, for one hour, in the tomato sauce of your choice.
23 Comments
#WineWednesday: Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel - In Good Taste
February 10, 2017 at 11:34 pm[…] Classic Italian Meatballs from In Good Taste […]
judy colannino
March 15, 2015 at 9:10 pmI see the photo of the Meat Balls have something red on them but I don’t see it in the agredients. And is there a recipe for the Sauce (Mommy’s Gravy)?
Maris Callahan
March 23, 2015 at 11:15 pmYou can brush them with a little tomato paste before baking the meatballs or serve them with your favorite red sauce. Enjou!
Home with Mandy
March 7, 2009 at 3:00 amYes yes yes, I love to make my own meatballs and they freeze VERY well. This is the first recipe I’ve read that uses a combo of cornbread and white bread. I will have to give that a try. Great post! I mentioned your blog on my blog today!
Susan from Food Blogga
March 6, 2009 at 3:00 amMeatballs are one of my all time favorite comfort foods and yours looks delicious. I make mine the way my mom and her mom always did– beef, egg, breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs. I’m curious about the mayo. I have never heard of putting it in meatballs before. I wonder how that came to be.
Luci
March 6, 2009 at 3:00 amI’ve been making meatballs and speghetti for many years, and I’ve never seen mayo addedto it. However, it sounds DELICIOUS! I’m going to try your recipe the next time I making Italian!
(I’m guest blogging for my daughter this week, (Storm of Thoughts)so that’s not really MY website…. but I wanted you know know how much enjoy your blog!)
Joanna
March 6, 2009 at 3:00 amOh I totally agree with you – meatballs MUST be mixed by hand! Even if there were a gadget that could do a good job, I’d use my hands anyway, because I kind of love squishing everything around. Anyway these look delicious! My recipe is really similar to yours, although I’ve never used mayo… interesting addition. Does it keep the meatballs more moist?
alexandra
March 6, 2009 at 3:00 ammeatballs are so good! and i haven’t made them in ages (maybe even over a year … yikes!) you are inspiring me Maris!
Kendall
March 6, 2009 at 3:00 amThanks for making me really hungry for meatballs. On a Friday during Lent.
Sigh.
These look delicious.
magda
March 6, 2009 at 3:00 amI’ve been buying frozen meatballs from trader joe’s for way too long. It’s time to take a stand! I’m definitely making this up, hopefully soon. My spaghetti is forever grateful : )
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)
March 6, 2009 at 3:00 amJust learned today that one of my new cats loves meatballs! I wonder if he was Italian in one of his former lives?
Heather
March 6, 2009 at 3:00 ammmmmm. those look lovely. i make meatballs a lot. i usually add nutmeg, which my grandma says is the secret ingredient to pretty much every italian meal. i like the addition of mayo, here – i’ll bet it makes them a smoother texture. lovely pics, too 🙂
Sophie
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amMaris, this dish looks so appetizing!!! MMMMM…..wirth a glas of good red wine,…..
Food Hunter
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amThey sure look good. Just curious about the mayo?
laura
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amThanks very much for the link! Your meatballs sound very good, would work very well for us since my husband thinks he does not like onion but I know he is OK with onion flavor 🙂
Kimberly
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amOh my gosh…I know what I’m making this weekend. By the way, your food photography is great!
Daryl
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amOnce baked these can be put in a freezer zip loc bag and frozen. Then you can just take out what you need making it a very doable worknight dinner.
Sara
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amLately I’ve been using a variation of the Barefoot Contessa recipe. I’ll have to try your version.
kat
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amThere is nothing like a good tender meatball
Leslie
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amCool..that is a great recipe for meatballs!
janelle
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amThanks for the inclusion! Meatballs are so great… and so forgiving! Don’t you just love that? Now I make a big ole batch and fill some small freezer bags with 6-8 of them for future fast meals…
Nice blog!!
Lorraine @NotQuiteNigella
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amVery interesting that you mention for best results use a combination of cornbread and regular white. I must save some cornbread next time I make it and use it in some meatballs 🙂
Elra
March 5, 2009 at 3:00 amI love classic dish like this, it’s very comforting.
Cheers,
elra