Make Rao’s mouthwatering meatballs

Video: Make mouthwatering meatballs

Open in new window

2. Closed captioning of: Make mouthwatering meatballs

   Advertise | AdChoices

   >>> this morning on "today's kitchen," back to basics. october is italian heritage month, and we are getting a jump on things with some of the most famous italian meatballs in the world. pellegrino is the owner of reyos here in new york and the owner of the " rao 's cookbook." sorry about my side kick here. we love meatballs, but we're desperate to get a table at rao 's. it's very hard.

   >> we're going to try to keep it that way.

   >> good try, though. all right, fine.

   >> we've got raw meat here, frank, be careful.

   >> you've got raw meat and i want to get you started.

   >> what's the raw meat ?

   >> this is two pounds of half beat, quarter pork, quarter veal.

   >> have your butcher mix it up for you?

   >> have your butcher or they even sell it in supermarkets like that.

   >> this will make how much meatballs for a family?

   >> 14 to 16 meatballs. about that size, about two inch in diameter. we've got to get you started. first of all, spread out the chopped meat like it is now.

   >> with our hands?

   >> no, it's already spread out. if you want to put your hands in there --

   >> now this is like a large clove of garlic that's been minced.

   >> okay.

   >> now i want you to spread that around on the meat. spread it around.

   >> with my hands?

   >> fantastic.

   >> get your fingers dirty. good, good, good, that's enough. that's enough. now we're going to do little salt and pepper .

   >> want to do that, matt?

   >> go ahead.

   >> how much?

   >> it's a half a teaspoon to a whole teaspoon of salt.

   >> pepper?

   >> good.

   >> yes, we're going to do about half a teaspoon of black pepper in there.

   >> excellent.

   >> that's the best part.

   >> we're going to do the parsley. this is about a tablespoon of chopped parsley.

   >> where does this recipe come from?

   >> italy.

   >> this comes from my aunt, my mother. this is a real neopolitan way of making meatballs. no, not yet. not yet.

   >> oh, what'd i do?

   >> frank, i'll handle this. okay.

   >> put those two eggs --

   >> yeah?

   >> i use one egg per pound. okay, we've got that.

   >> now you put your hand in it.

   >> no, not yet. now what we're going to do is put the water. about half a cup --

   >> how much is that? wow.

   >> we're going to put all of that. now we're going to put the cheese.

   >> just let frank tell you what to do.

   >> this is two cups.

   >> two cups, i see it.

   >> all of it?

   >> just put it in.

   >> yes.

   >> now what?

   >> now a cup of breadcrumbs.

   >> give me -- i can't cook without a hat!

   >> you can't cook with a hat.

   >> now put it in?

   >> now put your hands in there and mix it all up. mix it good.

   >> i'm thinking about that --

   >> but frank, you don't want to go too crazy handling this, especially in the packing time, right?

   >> exactly. you don't want to overhandle it --

   >> why?

   >> because it makes it dense.

   >> you want the chuck meat to be a little loose, but moist.

   >> you're really a perfectionist.

   >> you're doing really good.

   >> that looks great.

   >> all right.

   >> very nice.

   >> good.

   >> all right, matt, your turn.

   >> you want to mix it a little bit?

   >> no, i want to start to form some meatballs.

   >> it needs little bit more mixing.

   >> more mixing?

   >> all right, get it evenly distributed. now you can make the meatballs.

   >> we want these two inch in diameter meatballs, you say. but again, we're not handling them too much.

   >> no, you don't want to handle them too much.

   >> a lot of people like to bake their meatballs. we're going to fry them, right?

   >> frying them gives them more flavor, more taste.

   >> but it's worse for you, isn't it?

   >> you mean worse for you healthwise? no, olive oil is good for you.

   >> how do you know if the oil's ready?

   >> in the olive oil , this is two cups of olive oil . that's a ten-inch frying pan . and what we do is we put the garlic in. and you wait to see that the garlic starts to bubble and starts to move.

   >> and that means the oil's ready?

   >> then you know that the oil's about ready.

   >> can we throw them right in?

   >> yeah, this one has been heating up for a while, so --

   >> it's starting to bubble.

   >> throw them in.

   >> don't throw them in. it's oil.

   >> he said throw them in.

   >> gently place them in.

   >> you said throw. i heard a throw. all right, water.

   >> is there osha around here or something like that?

   >> osha -- all right, is that enough?

   >> that's good.

   >> how many minutes on each side there?

   >> about five minutes on each side.

   >> then you flip them over?

   >> with a thing, though, not with your hands.

   >> and wait until the bottom browns because --

   >> fool.

   >> did you ever bob for meatballs?

   >> go ahead, you can continue.

   Advertise | AdChoices

   >> okay.

   >> then the meatballs are going to look like this.

   >> they absorb a lot --

   >> you know what, some people put an ice cube in the middle of the meatball an say it makes it moister. adventu have you ever done that?

   >> i don't believe in that, no. i've never done that and i don't know who would.

   >> that was a ridiculous question. ridiculous. i apologize.

   >> did that hurt my chances of getting a table at rao 's?

   >> no.

   >> okay, good.

   >> then we add the meatballs to the sauce.

   >> the marinara sauce .

   >> you like special tomatoes, though. what kind?

   >> samozana tomatoes.

   >> are you still acting, by any chance?

   >> i'm still acting.

   >> you were in "the sopranos."

   >> yes, i was.

   >> and where are you acting right now?

   >> i'm not acting anything right now. i think i'm washed up.

   >> no, not at all.

   >> it's over for me.

   >> this hasn't helped your career, i can tell you that.

   >> then we let them cook about a half hour in the sauce and they're ready. they absorb some sauce. then we'll give you a sample --

   >> for people who aren't familiar with rao 's, if you're in a different part of the country, it's an incredible restaurant, tough to get into. there is only 35 seats, right?

   >> no, no, ten tables and 50 seats. and then we have the restaurant in las vegas . serve a year?

   >> believe it or not, we count thaemd last year. we did over 13,000 meatballs at little rao 's. at big rao 's in caesars, we did over 100,000 meatballs.

   >> wow. that's a lot of meatballs.

   >> that's pretty good.

   >> that's a lot of meatballs. how many do you serve per plate?

   >> two.

   >> can you ask for three?

   >> sure, you can.

   >> her last night at rao 's.

   >> no.

   >> are you still singing?

   >> not at 8:30 in the morning.

   >> oh, come on, come on.

   >> in fact, i don't know how you eat meatballs at 8:30 in the morning. what are we doing?

   >> we're singing.

   >> we're listening to "it's amour."

   >> you can sing at 8:30. you can sing at any time.

   >>> still ahead, what you should know if you know you're going to be laid off. but first, this is "today."

   >> i'm getting a table. i know that.

   Show transcript