The Italian Sausage You Need To Be Using In Meatballs

You can make meatballs out of practically any protein. Beef is a classic choice, but you can also go for chicken, which makes a delicious combo when paired with spinach and feta, bison, turkey, or even random scraps from your local butcher. And yet, some options are simply tastier and more luxurious than others. So if you're looking to level up both the taste and texture of your homemade meatballs, throw in some mortadella.

What is this meat exactly? While some say that mortadella walked so bologna could run, the former is the tasty Italian original of the latter. It's a sausage made primarily with pork cheek, although some versions include extras like pistachios, olives, black pepper, or even berries. But a key factor here is that it includes bits of pork fat, which makes the meat extra succulent. When incorporated into your meatballs, mortadella will bring plenty of moisture, richness, and juiciness. And whether the protein you purchase has any extra ingredients or just relies on the taste of the hearty pork itself, you'll get an additional layer of savory flavor by deploying this Italian sausage in your dish.

Typically, you'll want to combine mortadella with at least one other type of meat to achieve the right texture and balance of flavor for your meatballs. Beef may be the simplest one, but you can also go for veal, ground pork, or a mixture of two of these. Since mortadella has a smooth texture and doesn't come ground, you'll want to dice or mince it (depending on how big you want your chunks to be) so that it can be incorporated into your meatballs. And because we're relying on a different ingredient to create the main consistency here, you'll want less mortadella than your other protein. If you're just using one other meat besides mortadella, aim for twice as much of the former as the latter.

If your Italian sausage doesn't already have extra ingredients mixed into it, feel free to use them in your dish. Pistachios, for instance, are commonly paired with this protein (as seen in All'Antico Vinaio's delicious mortadella sandwich with pistachio cream), and you can either crush and stir them into your meatball mixture or use them to make a sauce for your dish. For a simpler recipe, make use of Italian seasoning or fresh herbs like parsley, oregano, and thyme. Feel free to also try a twist on Italy's classic pizza toppings and use your meatballs in a tasty pasta dish with pesto and burrata. Or, balance out all that rich pork with a deliciously acidic tomato sauce.