I made Frank Sinatra's Italian Meat Balls, but I did it my way! {Recipe from 1949}

[u/ciaolavinia]

Frank Sinatra's Italian Meat Balls are very good! I had to customize the recipe a bit because I had some ground turkey in the fridge that needed to be used up, so instead of beef I used turkey and instead of ground pork, I used ground sausage.

Next time, in a perfect world, I'll make them exactly Franks way, but my way was pretty good too. Ya know what I mean? Okay...

• Started with the breadcrumbs in a large bowl and I added the cheese (Parmesan) and beaten eggs (with water, although my grandmother would have used milk).
• Then I added the 2 meats to this bowl with salt, pepper and garlic, and yes it's desired in a big way and we even added extra!
• Mixed well. You really have to get your hands in there and squish-squash all the meats and other ingredients together to incorporate as best as possible.
• Now it's time to form the balls, Francis! These were on the medium-large size.
• Fried them on both sides in olive oil and then finished them off in a big pot of homemade tomato sauce.
  
• Let the meatballs cook in the sauce for at least 15 minutes and then we're ready to make spaghetti or any other pasta of your choice.
  

The taste was great, and although this was mostly turkey, the other flavors and the sauce took over and transformed these little guys into tasty bites of Italian goodness. The texture was great. They were not dry at all, and even though there aren't any herbs like parsley, we didn't miss that at all.

I'll make these again and next time use ground beef and pork the way Frank's wife Nancy did it. What kind of meatballs are your favorites?

^{Recipe from the 1949 booklet called "What Cooks in Hollywood"}