How to make delicious Italian meatballs

What is this fascination we have with meatballs? We serve them in mini size for a buffet, we cloak them in buns for a meatball sub, we hide them in casseroles and, most importantly, we cook them in tomato sauce and serve them with spaghetti, another Italian American invention because traditionally, spaghetti and meatballs as a course does not exist in Italy.

How does one really make a good Italian meatball? Here are my criteria:

A combination of meats such as ground chuck and pork works best for flavor; you need some fat or the meatballs will be dry in texture and taste.

Use the soft crumb of fresh bread, not the crust, torn into small pieces and soaked in milk, water or wine.

Use real cheese, grated pecorino or parmigiano reggiano.

Use fresh parsley and mince the stems as well; there is great flavor there.

Not too much garlic; a clove for a pound of meat. Mince it fine and cook it first in a bit of olive oil along with onions before adding to the meat mixture.

Bind all the ingredients with an egg yolk, no white, which tends to dry out the meatballs when they are cooking.

Use fine sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper for seasoning.

Fry a small marble-size ball and test for taste before forming and baking all of the meatballs. Add salt and pepper as needed.

Form the meatballs tightly by rolling them under the palms of your hands.

Place them on a nonstick baking sheet and refrigerate them for 30 minutes. This will prevent them from collapsing and losing their round shape. Bake in a 325-degree oven. They are done when a thermometer inserted into their centers registers at 160 degrees. Add them to tomato sauce and simmer until hot.

For more great recipes and up-to-theminute foodie news, check out our Fork Lift food blog at bostonherald. com. There “Ciao Italia” host Esposito shares her delicious Paccheri con Gamberi, ahead of her appearance at the new Tuscan Market opening in Portsmouth, N.H.; and chef Brian Poe, of The Tip Tap Room, Bukowski Tavern in Cambridge and Poe’s Taco Room at Lower Depths, gives a behindthe-scenes look at the life of a chef. Only on Fork Lift!