Mom's Escarole and Meatballs

A simple yet beloved family recipe featuring homemade beef meatballs in a flavorful escarole broth. This Italian-inspired dish includes a personal family story and can be substituted with spinach if escarole is not available.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 0.5 Cup grated parmesan
  • 1 egg
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 0.25 tsp pepper
  • 2.5 lbs escarole leaves
  • 1 Cup water
  • 5 each chicken bouillon cubes

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, place beef, parmesan, egg, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
  2. Pinch a small portion of meat and roll it around in the palm of your hands until it is shaped like ball approximately the size of a nickel.
  3. Place completed meatballs on a clean platter.
  4. Continue making meatballs until all the meat mixture is used.
  5. Take a large stock pot and place it on the stove with 1 Cup of water and the 5 bouillon cubes inside. Set heat to medium-high, and cover with a lid.
  6. Wash, rinse, and sanitize your sink and fill halfway with cold water.
  7. Take one head of escarole and cut the core from the leaves.
  8. Separate the leaves and place them in the sink with the cold water.
  9. Gently wash the leaves, then grab them up as a bunch, do not shake off excess water, and place bunch in the pot of heated water.
  10. Replace the lid.
  11. Continue with the next head of escarole, allowing each bunch to cook down a bit while you clean the next head.
  12. Once all the escarole has been placed in the pot and has cooked down, the leaves should have released enough liquid to have the pot half full of liquid.
  13. If not, add water to fill pot to ½ full of liquid.
  14. Next, gently drop the meatballs into the pot of escarole and broth, while trying not to let meatballs touch each other.
  15. If the surface is full of dropped meatballs, take a spoon, and gently stir the mixture so the meatballs are moved to the bottom.
  16. Continue dropping meatballs until all meatballs are in the pot and cooking.
  17. Reduce heat to low and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
  18. If you cannot find escarole where you live, it can easily be replaced with spinach; however additional water may need to be added.