Goodbye meatballs from Something from Nothing (page 288) by Alison Roman

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Ingredients

ricotta cheese
garlic
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Serves : 6-8

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Accompaniments: Buttered polenta with fresh corn

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

rachel_q1lg6q on March 24, 2026

So delicious. It makes a lot of sauce! I followed the recipe and pan seared the meatballs, they were really delicious but I’d have to try it again with an oven sear to see if the time saved is worth it. Served over polenta!
KarenPR on February 24, 2026

The sauce was really delicious. I scaled down to two servings, freezing the rest of the meatballs for later. I followed the advice of baking the meatballs since I did this on a weekday. Served with noodles.
emily_3s6em8 on February 10, 2026

Ate with focaccia, delicious
chefoclairo on February 01, 2026

This recipe is delightful! Worth the effort, especially if you want to freeze some of the mix for later.
averythingcooks on January 30, 2026

These meatballs were awesome (50:50 mix of grd pork : mild Italian sausage). The test fry proved they were perfectly seasoned but my intention from the start (even before reading the comments) was to oven roast until just under, finishing in the sauce. The sauce was good (I added basil pesto + a parm rind) & we ate this with ciabatta "soldiers" broiled with a basil garlic, parmesan cpd butter for dipping. BUT I should have made 1/4 of everything. A 1/2 recipe was a ton of food for the 2 of us.
jami_scccdc on January 27, 2026

Very good! I didn’t have anchovies so I used vegan fish sauce. Turned out fantastic!
EatinSnax on January 17, 2026

This is a great benchmark recipe for classic meatballs. Very tender and perfectly seasoned. I’ll probably use this as my default meatball mixture going forward. The sauce got lots of compliments as well. The only thing I’ll do differently next time is to oven-sear the meatballs on an extra large sheet pan until they’re just set before finishing them in the sauce. It just adds too much time to the recipe to brown them in batches on the stove to be worth it for me. And I like the ability to control how much pork fat makes it into the sauce anyway.
Lepa on November 16, 2025

These were good but not worth all the time it took to fry all those meatballs. I usually bake meatballs and finish them in the sauce (using Smitten Kitchen 's recipe) and we all like those better - and they are so much easier.