meatballs (secret ingredients?)

JLASilver

Veal / Pork / Beef blend. I don't use any breadcrumbs/bread in my meatballs but I do use an excessive amount of cheeses (ricotta, asiago, pecorino). But my trick is to roast the garlic before you incorporate into the meatballs. These meatballs are no where near healthy but using 2% Ricotta and roasted garlic would add a nice moisture to any meatballs.

GrinnyMae

Last time I made meatballs I minced 1-2 tablespoons of giardiniera in the food processor and mixed it in. Added a lot of flavor and they stayed moist. I used 1 lb very lean ground beef, one slice of wheat bread crumbled and soaked in a scant 1/4 of milk, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, 1 egg and some Italian seasoning blend and then the giardiniera. If you're not familiar, giardiniera is a spicy pickled vegetable mix that is usually found in the condiment aisle near the olives.

JustinAnimal

You definitely need some amount of egg. I like a tbsp or two of dry red wine. A bit of parmesan to bind (not sure what kind of meatballs you're talking about, but mine are clearly Italian). Other than that, I find a blend of meats (not just beef) works really well. I prefer 1/3 bison / buffalo, 1/3 veal, and 1/3 pork. So good.

sixxpoint

Here are two approaches:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/01/italian-american-beef-pork-meatballs-red-tomato-sauce-recipe.html

http://thepastachannel.com/spaghetti-and-meatballs-recipe/

Silinde

Most important for meatballs here is to cook them before frying. That will make the inside ready to eat w/o having the outside carbonated. I put them in a pot of cooking water for about 10 mins, until they start floating in the water. I can put them in the deep-freeze once cooked too, so I make many but they don't get all eaten at once.

Basic recipe is grounded meat (pig/beef mixture preferably but others will do), with 1 egg per kg meat, adding "chapelure" (can be replaced by breadcrumbs) until the meat doesn't stick to your hands too much anymore (how much depends on the fat in the meat mostly), you must however still be able to roll it together into balls that don't fall apart.
Adding taste: onion, paprika powder, pepper and nutmeg, garlic, ... depending on what I have.

girlinahat

red wine in the sauce.