The Meatball Shop Cookbook

For Christmas, Alex and I get a joint gift from my parents.  Last year, we got a pizza stone and pizza cookbook.  It was an awesome gift.  Pizza stones are pretty cool because not only can you make pizza on them, but you can also make naan, flatbreads, etc.  The best part of a pizza stone is that you store it in the oven.  For NYC apartment dwellers, large kitchen appliances can be difficult to store.  The fact that you can keep the pizza stone in the oven and not have to lug it out every time you want to use it makes it a good fixture in your home. 

This year, we got The Meatball Shop Cookbook, along with cute bowls to serve meatballs in, and a jar of homemade sauce made by a friend.  We have both been to The Meatball Shop and love their delicious balls.  We read through a bit of the book on our train ride back to the city and were amazed to see how many different kinds of meatballs we could make.  Of course, I want to combine the gifts and make a meatball pizza, using the pizza stone and the meatball cookbook. 

We made one of the recipes, for pork meatballs.  We picked up ground pork, eggs, bread crumbs, and a few other small and inexpensive ingredients.  The recipe, which was pretty simple, yielded 30 meatballs!  It obviously took us a few days to eat them.  It made me realize though that for a small NYC apartment, a meatball dinner party is a genius idea.  You can buy a box of penne and boil up some pasta.  Make your favorite recipe of balls and some sauce to go with it.  Sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top of it, and you have a full meal!  And all you need are bowls and forks.  You do not need a huge dinner table where everyone can sit down.  People can eat their ball of bowls sitting in a chair or on the couch (watch the sauce though). 

I highly recommend purchasing this cookbook and throwing a meatball party!  If you live in a quintessential NYC apartment (basically, you live in a box, with makeshift kitchen counter-tops, no dishwasher, several roommates, mismatched dishes, etc.), you can really wow your guests with a pretty simply delicious meal of pasta and meatballs without the fuss of a formal dinner party.  Just because you live in NYC does not mean you cannot throw a great dinner party in your small walk-up apartment!

Have a delicious day!
NYC Menu Girl