Most friends know that us Guidos have a thing for our spaghetti and meatball recipe. We make it by the gallons at Christmas time to share with family, enjoy on Christmas Day, and store away to last the entire year. Last year, we made well over 400 meatballs in two shifts. The process for a batch of 200 takes a full 2 days, so we devouted quite the time to this recipe last year. But it’s that good. We can’t get enough of it. When mom asks what we want for supper, I could always go for spaghetti. And when we have it, if a stray meatball is actually left over, it’s not hard to find space for it. No meatball left un-eaten! That’s our motto.

This past year, we did start storing a few extra bags of meatballs that weren’t cooked in the sauce. They were reserved during the cooking process so we could have them in brown gravy over rice. Now that’s a perfect way to have this recipe. If you’re not a fan of marinara, stop reading this and never contact me again. Just kidding (maybe). Really, if you don’t care for marinara, try this recipe with a brown gravy. They are delicious that way!

Of course, the ingredient amounts are vague. We’re Italian. This recipe is from the old country. Think Sophia Petrillo. Do you think she would tell you how much salt, pepper, and garlic powder to use? I didn’t think so.

Guido-family Meatballs

4 pounds hamburger meat

2 packages hamburger buns, processed to bread crumbs

6 eggs

Salt and pepper

Onion tops

Parsley

Garlic powder

In the food processor, finely chop the meat. Mix all ingredients by hand in a large mixing bowl. Shape mixture into golf-ball-size meatballs and bake at 350 degrees until done. Use a meat thermometer to check the core temperature. It should be around 165 degrees. Let cool. These can then be stored in the refrigerator or freezer to later be added to a marinara or brown gravy.