The inside of Meatloaf, a beloved family recipe that Rich Leone loves to cook and share. Photo: Rich Leone

Meatballs – every Italian American family has a recipe, some have more than one. A proud member of my family Sicilian American The family, our meatballs, appeared with the head of the family.

Francesca Battaglia made her meatballs with plenty of garlic, parsley, parmesan cheese, ground meat and veal mixture, breadcrumbs, red pepper flakes and eggs. The ingredients are simple but the cooking techniques enhanced the eating experience. He shaped his meatballs into rectangular shapes resembling footballs and always fried them in a mixture of canola and olive oil. The outer shell of the pan-fried oval meatballs was crispy, and the inside was soft and juicy, filled with garlic and cheese.

Richard Leone’s great-grandmother, Francesca Battaglia, was the daughter of Pope John Paul II. He meets John Paul. Photo courtesy of Rich Leone

While most of my family bases their version of meatloaf on her recipe, they have largely abandoned stir-frying. Instead, they bake the meatballs in the oven. They also skip shaping the meat into footballs, opting instead for the usual spherical ball shape. But baking the patty doesn’t achieve the crust that broiling does, and the even, indirect heat of the oven doesn’t seal in the juices the way broiling does. In the baked version, more moisture comes out of the meat and the meatballs are drier.

While Leone adapted the recipe, he retained the traditional spherical shape of the meatballs. Photo: Rich Leone

While Leone adapted the recipe, he retained the traditional spherical shape of the meatballs. Photo: Rich Leone

I retained Francesca Battaglia’s meatball shape and technique, but out of necessity I deviated significantly from her recipe. I substitute gluten-free breadcrumbs for the regular breadcrumbs he requested. I became gluten-free in 2013 and have been working ever since to adapt my family recipes (a variety of Sicilian American dishes and other important foods of my childhood and family history) to be gluten-free.

I was inspired by the origins of meatballs for my adaptation. Meatballs were born out of the need to use everything and stretch out whatever meat was available to feed large families. Originally, stale bread was just a filler. It also gave the meatballs a spongy texture, depending on the bread-meat ratio. The more bread there is, the spongier the meatballs will be. My great-grandmother was famous for her heavy bread-to-meat ratio, but that’s because she started making the recipe during the Great Depression, when she had to really stretch any food she had.

Gluten-free bread doesn’t go stale like regular bread, so I cut my gluten-free bread into cubes, toast it in the oven until dry (but be careful not to burn it!) and then whiz it into crumbs in the food processor. The resulting meatball is indistinguishable from the original.

These meatballs are great on their own. However, when given some time to cook in a sauce consisting of a simple tomato sauce of basil, olive oil, and garlic, they transform into the final meatballs: The shell becomes slightly soft and chewy, while the interior absorbs the sweetness. and the acidity of the sauce.

Francesca Battaglia’s Family Meatballs

I prefer Pastene or Cento brand crushed tomatoes. If you are not making gluten-free meatballs, use 1 cup of breadcrumbs. Eat meatballs alone, with pasta or in a sandwich.

Yield: 30 to 50 meatballs, depending on the size of meatballs you create

For the meatballs:
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef, 75 or 80 percent lean
2 eggs
2 cups finely ground gluten-free bread crumbs (usually about ½ loaf Udi or Trader Joe’s gluten-free white bread)
1 cup Parmesan Reggiano
1 bunch chopped Italian parsley
4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
Black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt to taste

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced, crushed – whatever works for you
1 (28-ounce) can peeled, crushed tomatoes
4-5 leaves of fresh basil or 2 tablespoons of dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste

To prepare the meatballs, combine the meatball ingredients in a large bowl or stand mixer and mix. If you’re doing this by hand, I recommend wearing food-safe gloves. Combine the ingredients until the mixture is homogeneous and the ingredients are well combined.

Use an ice cream scoop or other tool to break up equal amounts of meatball mixture. Form the mixture into a football shape and place it in a pan or plate before frying.

Fill a large frying pan to one-third full with a mixture of two-thirds canola oil and one-third olive oil. Add a piece of garlic to the oil. Turn the burner on to medium heat. When the garlic piece starts to sizzle, the oil is hot enough.

Remove the garlic clove and add the meatballs to the frying pan, one at a time, leaving some space between them. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side until a nice crust forms, then turn the patty and fry the other side. After a nice crust forms on both sides, place the meatballs on a cloth or paper towel to absorb the oil on the surface.

Add to sauce or eat plain.

To prepare the sauce, add the oil and garlic to a pot or pan over medium heat. Once the garlic sizzles, add the canned crushed tomatoes. Add ½ can of water (using the tomato can) to the sauce. Tear fresh basil (or use dried) and add. Season with salt and pepper. Let the sauce cook quickly over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently and being careful not to burn. Then turn the burner to the lowest setting until you are ready to serve the meatballs.

Optional: Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Rich Leone with his wife Jess and the couple’s daughter Emerson. Photo courtesy of Rich Leone

MEET RICH LEONE, THE COOK

I love cooking. I started cooking when I was little and learned by watching my parents, grandparents, and great-grandmother cook. When I was away from home, I wanted to eat those familiar dishes and share them with my friends, so I learned how to cook family meals.

Today, I stay connected with my family through food. We have a family thread that is just about the meals we make and the delicious meals we eat. Other topics are not allowed. We share techniques, tips, tricks and stories about the food we make or eat, and at the end of the year, we create a calendar recapping the past year’s food adventures. Each member of the thread receives one as a Christmas gift.

Although I’m still adapting my favorite foods to be gluten-free, my daily cooking routine now focuses on what our 18-month-old daughter will eat. Our goal is to cook a meal that all of us can enjoy, instead of just two. It can be challenging, but it’s so rewarding when I find something he likes so far (broccoli, rice, potatoes, salmon, cod, and blueberries); so this is a good start. For now, he prefers his meatballs without sauce; apparently, so was I when I was his age.

I see cooking as a good way to connect with people past and present, and I enjoy putting a smile on someone’s face through food. I work in the insurance industry. We recently moved from Old Orchard to Portland, so I’m learning a new cuisine and I’m excited to continue adapting family recipes and discovering new ones to share.

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