Receta The Meatball Shop's Spicy Pork Meatballs with Parmesan Cheese Sauce
"Meatball Mike" Chernow (left) and
Chef Daniel Holzman
Chef
Daniel Holzman and his partner, Michael Chernow, AKA “Meatball Mike” are New
York’s Kings of the Meatball. With the
opening of their 5th location, on the Far East side of Manhattan, at
1462 Second Avenue, they are the undisputed champs of the Meatball scene. Their other locations are all downtown – in
Chelsea, at 200 Ninth Avenue at 22nd Street, on the Lower East Side
at 84 Stanton Street, and in the Village which has two locations:
170 Bedford just below Christopher
St. and 64 Greenwich Avenue south of 7th Avenue South. I had an errand to do which landed me
practically outside their Greenwich Avenue door so I finally got to sample
their beautiful balls. I chose the Spicy
Pork variation, a light and scrumptious meatball--or rather meatballs since an
order consists of 5 the size of golf balls.
But what really knocked me out was the creamy Parmesan sauce that topped
the dish. It was a complete indulgence of course and I have no clue what the
fat content was nor do I care. Life is
meant to be lived, not calorie counted.
I’d made my foray into meatball territory alone so of course I wanted to
make them for Andrew. Or at least,
that’s what I told myself. In truth, I could have eaten the whole batch of the
things all by myself. But then who
doesn’t love a great meatball?
Communal Tables at
The Meatball Shop The
meatball may be the world’s more ubiquitous food. From Afghanistan to Viet Nam, meatballs exist
in every possible guise. In Turkey alone, where they are called Kofte, there are 50 different versions
of meatballs. In Denmark, frikadeller are fried. In Finland they’ve often made with ground
reindeer meat. In Germany, there’s a
variation called Konigsberger Klopse which
contain anchovy or herring and are eaten with caper sauce. Indonesian meatballs are The Meatball Shop's version
of today's recipe
called bakso, served in a bowl like soup with
noodles, tofu, egg, a meat dumpling and a crispy wanton. Then we come to Italy, which most Americans
associate most with meatballs--although Swedish Americans would object. The Italian meatball is far more an Italian
American dish. In Italy, particularly in
the Abruzzo, meatballs are called polpettine and they’re about the size of
marbles. The outsized meatball we know
in Italian American cooking is yet another example of how Southern Italians
adapted food from their home. Their
large size was a sign that in the new country food was far more plentiful than
in Mother Italy. This brings us to Sweden, where kottbullar would be as familiar to American palates as any
meatball: Ground beef or a mix of beef, pork and sometimes veal are mixed with
breadcrumbs soaked in milk, finely chopped sautéed onions and served with a
broth rich in cream. (Now we’re getting
close to the Meatball Shop’s version!)
Finally, in the United Kingdom, we arrive at a type of spicy pork
meatball made from pig heart, liver and fatty pork belly or bacon: This is
called a "faggot". This is the point where I say; enough about meatballs, on
to the recipe.
Holzman and Chernow of The Meatball
Shop have written a cookbook in honor of the meatball called, appropriately
enough, “The Meatball Shop Cookbook” (Ballantine Books 2011) so finding the
recipe for meatballs was a snap. It’s
very easy. I cut it in half. So feel completely free to double this recipe for 8 servings. Their suggestion is to make them the size of
golf balls but I went slightly larger, making a dozen and serving them three at
a time. This is the only time in memory when I’d wished I kept Wonder Bread in
the house, instead I used just some crust less French bread. The spice comes from cherry peppers and their
‘juice’. But have no fear, they’re not
blow-your-head-off spicy. Then there’s
- the Parmesan Cream sauce. This I did a bit of improvisation to make, upping the
- amount of cheese. It was essential to
- the enjoyment of the dish – even if it did hide the meatballs in a sea of white
- cream. Here are the recipes:
- Recipe for the Meatball Shop’s Spicy Pork Meatballs:
- Makes about 2 dozen 1 1/2-inch meatballs
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 jarred hot cherry peppers, minced
- 1/8 cup hot cherry pepper pickling liquid
- 2 slices fresh white bread, minced and soaked in milk to cover.
- 2 large eggs
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Drizzle the olive oil
into a 9×13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire
surface. Set aside. Combine the ground pork, salt, cherry peppers, pickling
liquid, bread, and eggs in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly
incorporated.
Roll the mixture into round, golf ball-size meatballs
(about 1 ½ inches), making sure to pack the meat firmly. Place the balls in the
prepared baking dish being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows
vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching
one another.
Roast for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and
cooked through. A meat thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball
should read 165°F.
Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 minutes in the baking
dish before serving.
Recipe for
Parmesan Cream Sauce:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Melt butter in a 3-qt. saucepan over
medium-high heat. Whisk in flour; cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute.
Gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, and cook, whisking constantly, 1 to 2
minutes or until thickened. Whisk in Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Spoon
over the top of the meatballs and serve.