Today is National Meatball Day; but growing up Italian in
the Overbrook section of West Philadelphia, every Sunday was Meatball Day.
My mother would make a big batch of three meat (pork, veal
and beef) meatballs every Sunday morning and fry them up in olive oil. Sometime in the late 80's she succumbed to specious
health arguments and started to bake them.
The baked version never had the crispy outside of the fried, and I have
never had any better since.
My brother Neil and I would come back from Sunday mass at St.
Donato's and head straight for the freshly fried meatballs my mother had set
aside to cool before putting them in the gravy.
That is GRAVY not SAUCE.
She would holler not to keep eating them before they went in
the gravy, but her protests were hollow and we ignored them as we would sneak
back in the kitchen for seconds and thirds before they went into the gravy.
She was concerned because she needed to stretch
the meat and gravy until Thursday. My
mother's pan fried meatballs are a cherished childhood memory. One that I will
forever savor.
About 10 years ago, my wife Dusty and I brought her down to
our home in Virginia Beach where she actually held class in our kitchen instructing
our Southern friends on how to make Eva's meatballs.
Today, I have expanded on her recipe and added lamb to
create a 4 meat meatball; which I fry, thank you.
So today, March 9, 2018, in honor of National Meatball Day, go home and make
some meatballs and get some good Italian bread (not available in every state)
and make yourself a nice meatball sandwich with a garnish of hot peppers and sprinkled
with Romano and Parmesan cheese.
God how I miss my mother's meatballs.
