Deep-fried prime rib.

For this year’s Meatfest I decided to contribute meatballs. Making sauce and five pounds of meatballs from scratch is a time-consuming process. So, the morning of Meatfest I called upon my trusty pal Joe to help me assemble things. O volunteered to sample our mini test meatballs as we experimented with the proportions.

5 pounds of meatballs requires hours of prep.

We started with 85% Angus. In the end we added two pounds of Romano cheese from the local co-op and two packets of organic parsley. We also used a lot of breadcrumbs. I really don’t know how much. On top of all of that we used 12 bulbs of garlic from the organic CSA we joined this past spring. I love garlic and their garlic in particular. So much that when I picked up our last CSA share this week I worried because I didn’t want to run out during the winter season. So I bought all they had: 25 bulbs.

Some of the 12 bulbs of garlic that went into the meatballs.

With all of the previous ingredients mixed I added some eggs from Feather Ridge Farms.  I met Katie a few years ago, so when I saw her eggs at the Albany co-op I couldn’t resist.  They were great. Good eggs, Katie! Added some fresh oregano and arrived at what a finished batch looks like before mixing it and frying it.

As you can see, a lot goes into meatballs.

Moving on. I used a 75/25 blend of olive oil and extra virgin to fry all of those meatballs.  It is harder to fry in these oils but it adds flavor.  I used my favorite pan, a 12″ All-Clad copper core, which definitely helped to fry a large amount of meatballs at a time in tricky oil.

Meatballs frying.

Finally, with a sauce complete and 5 pounds of meatballs done, we had our finished product.

Meatballs in sauce.

With the cooking finally behind us we headed to Meatfest, where the meatballs were offered alongside of pounds and pounds of other proteins and cold drinks to be enjoyed by all who attended.

Meatfest at night, after a few brews and a lot of protein.

Let’s get started:  the first thing to do is make the sauce.  I make a simple sauce with a lot of garlic and fresh basil.  Mince some fresh garlic.  Fry the garlic in extra virgin olive oil until it gets very aromatic.  Once this happens, add diced roma tomatoes and fresh basil.  By now your kitchen should be smelling pretty great.

Once the tomatoes start to break down a little and the basil is wilted, add crushed tomatoes and tomato paste.  Crack some salt, pepper, and red pepper into the sauce, and slow boil everything as you start preparing the eggplant.

I like to alternately peel the eggplant before slicing it nice and thin.  I keep the slices in water until they are ready to fry. This keeps then from browning. I fry my eggplant in a mixture of half vegetable and half extra virgin olive oil.  Sometimes I fry in all evoo, but I find it easier to use the mix.  Another thing which helps is to use a really nice pan (I love my copper core All-Clads so much).  Fry the eggplant until it turns a nice golden color, and becomes halfway to crispy.

While the eggplant is frying, start to grate the cheese.  I use romano cheese.

When all of the eggplant is finished, I take the sauce off the burner and get to work assembling.  Eggplant first, then sauce, then cheese.  Do this until there is no more eggplant, and then coat the top with a fairly thick amount of cheese.

Put the pan into the oven at 400º for 10 to 20 minutes.  Finally, stick it under broiler until the cheese turns brown, at most 5 minutes.

The finished product is different than the ‘standard’ eggplant parm in that I do not bread the eggplant, and do not bake it for a long time.  I think this gives better individual flavors to all of the ingredients.