Monday Meatballs

What began one Monday night as a way to use up a growing inventory of beef and pork trimmings unexpectedly turned into an immensely popular weekly event. The attraction to this dish is understandable: these meatballs are at once simple and deeply satisfying.

Since the inception of Meatball Monday, the meatballs have evolved through experimentation. We added lamb on some occasions, omitted beef on others. We sampled different braising liquids, from various broths to San Marzano tomatoes. Then, when we started receiving a whole pig every week, pork became a core ingredient - particularly the shoulder meat, which makes a perfectly tender meatball.

One trait of our meatballs has remained consistent, however. We use significantly more bread in the mix than is typically called for in classic Italian American recipes. Lured by the cheap price of meat, Italian immigrants in America began to make denser meatballs with more meat and less bread than used in the old country. But you get a much lighter texture with a higher percentage of bread in the mixture.

You can get pre-ground meat from your butcher. If grinding the meat at home using a meat grinder, the fat, prosciutto, and bread chunks can be ground together with the meat. If using a food processor, they should be done separately.

If you want to make the meatballs in advance, roast the balls and freeze them. Before braising, defrost them completely, and then braise in the oven as directed. The meatballs will continue to improve if refrigerated overnight in their braising liquid.

Here are a handful of helpful tips to keep in mind when making any recipe for meatballs:

1. Before you grind the meat and fat, put the grinder or food processor bowl & blade in the freezer to chill for about 15 minutes.

2. Using lean meat produces an inferior meatball. If you buy reground pork, make sure it is shoulder meat, and don't skip the pork fat called for in the recipe.

3. While many recipes call for dried bread crumbs, I recommend using day-old bread, torn or cut into chunks, which you can then pulse in a food processor.

4. Use a light hand when mixing. Overworking the mixture will create tough, dry meatballs.

Serves 6.