Comments on: Pasta and Meatballs, With a Twist

By: The Food Hunter

The Food Hunter — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:45:02 +0000

They sure look good!

By: shayma

shayma — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:39:08 +0000

this is such an innovative dish, Jennifer. i love the idea of pairing orzo w lamb meatballs. happy hols to you and yours. x

By: phoebe

phoebe — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:15:51 +0000

you cook and eat beautifully

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:52:10 +0000

I mix the lamb with beef. It seems like a better texture to me and still has plenty of lamb flavor. I have been using a panade as well. We have been doing Indian inspired flavors in a tomato/roasted red pepper/ coconut milk curry sauce over basmati.

By: janelle

janelle — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:16:36 +0000

Ciao! We love meatballs… I like making them smallish and browning them first then stewing them in the sauce…

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:21:19 +0000

I used to use breadcrumbs in my meatballs until someone told me to use oatmeal in meatloaf, which worked really well, so I started using oatmeal in my meatballs, too. I soak the oatmeal in milk first to soften it. I’m not really sure why oatmeal works better than breadcrumbs but there it is!

By: Allison

Allison — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:14:23 +0000

I totally wing it when it comes to my meatballs, which are, I believe, the tastiest things I cook — measuring by feel, throwing ingredients in — and I’ve never had a “texture” problem. Mine are pretty flaky and loose. Plenty of breadcrumbs (italian flavored progresso from a can is what i use), parmesan cheese, eggs, lots of garlic, red pepper flakes, parsley, and whatever combo of ground meats I have in the freezer. I like cutting the intense flavor of beef and pork with turkey. After browning, simmer in a simple tomato sauce of crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar. Di-vine.

By: Jessamyn

Jessamyn — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:14:09 +0000

I just bought orzo for possibly the very first time! This sounds fun. We base most of our meatballs on Mark Bittman’s version in the original How to Cook Everything, with plenty of garlic and milk-soaked breadcrumbs. My favorite lamb kebabs have a bit of fresh tomato in them, which really helps keep them moist.

By: The Nervous Cook

The Nervous Cook — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:33:48 +0000

Lamb makes basically the perfect meatball — such a great complement for the acidity of the tomato. Sometimes it helps me to mix a little bit of a fattier or leaner meat into the balls, depending on what the base is. Texture makes or breaks this kind of a dish, especially since orzo tends to be so tender.

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:26:21 +0000

Oh yum. Orzo is one of my favorite pasta shapes.

I will admit to having meatball texture issues. The last ones I made (adapted from a Smitten Kitchen recipe) came out too hard, almost like overdone hamburgers floating in sauce, a delicious sauce, but still. I could never figure out why.

Once you figure it out you’ll have to share your newly found wisdom.