That’s Martina and her grandfather in Italy. If you can’t make it out, his apron says “Raffaele, King of Pasta!” Martina leads up Food Development at Clover. She told me back home in Italy, every family has their own meatball recipe. You never eat another family’s meatball recipe. You don’t really eat meatballs in restaurants. Nor do you eat meatballs on a sandwich.
It actually seems like nobody knows where the first meatball sub was invented, but it’s pretty certain that it was not in Italy. But that doesn’t matter, because ever since we launched our Impossible Meatball Sandwich, a bunch of you have been asking for recipes.
I asked Martina if she would be willing to share her family’s version. Martina called her grandmother to get the real deal. So if you’ve been loving the Impossible Meatball Sandwich at Clover, try the recipe let us know how it goes. Grazie a Nonna Maria for sharing this with us!
SCHIAVELLO FAMILY MEATBALLS
1 lb ground meat
1.5 slices of bread (40 g if using scale)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1/2 cup of parmesan, grated
1. Dice bread, and place in a bowl. Add milk and let sit until softened and moist.
2. Break egg into a bowl, and whisk.
3. Add ground meat, eggs, garlic, parsley and parmesan to bread and milk mixture.
4. Using your hands, mix all of the ingredients together, making sure all ingredients are fully incorporated in the meat.
5. Take a small dollop of meat and roll between the palms of your hand, until a ball shape forms.
6. Fry them in a pan with olive oil, or cook them in Nonna’s red sauce! (At Clover, we bake in an oven for 10-12 minutes, then add to our tomato sauce to keep warm.)
