Meatballs With Garlic-Mint Sauce

I love fried meatballs. They are tasty and easy to make. So I paired them with a garlic-mint sauce that my mother used to serve over steak. The meatballs themselves also use a generous portion of fresh mint, which gives them a distinctly Sicilian flavor. I wanted to find the right balance between too-soft and too-dry meatballs. In my search, I discovered that using  a small amount of soft, fresh breadcrumbs soaked in milk, combined with fine, dry breadcrumbs gives  the texture I wanted.

Fresh mint—preferably spearmint— and good-quality olive oil are essential for the sauce. I tend to use the Rocombole garlic, which is available in my local green market, for its deep, complex flavor. The mint and the Rocombole are at their best in the summer, so I reserve this recipe for that time of year. Feel free to use the ordinary garlic you find in the supermarket; you will still get a fine result. I do find, however, that fresh mint found in the winter, which I assume to be a hothouse variety, has an extremely unpleasant flavor.

For the meat, I prefer ground chuck because the fat content gives a juicier meatball than the leaner and drier ground round or ground sirloin. I like to cut the meatballs in half or quarters on my plate before I ladle the sauce over them, so that it fully flavors the inside.

I always make extra when doing this recipe because the meatballs are also good served cold or at room temperature. And if there are still some extras, they freeze beautifully. Use them to make spaghetti and meatballs. Just combine the thawed meatballs with your favorite tomato sauce recipe, simmer for an hour or so, and voilà!

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