Ingredients

1 large onion, finely chopped
3 ribs celery, finely chopped
Handful of fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 pound ground chuck
1/4 teaspoon Beau Monde seasoning
3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 large loaf stale French bread
1 cup water
2 eggs
1 tablespoon grated Romano cheese
Olive oil for cooking

Directions

Gently mix ground chuck with finely chopped onion, celery, parsley, thyme, Beau Monde seasoning, Italian seasoning, black pepper, red pepper and salt.

Break stale French bread into small chunks, cover with 1 cup water and let sit for 1 minute. Drain French bread in colander, squeezing out as much water as possible. Add damp French bread crumbs, eggs and Romano cheese to the meat mixture. Chill meat mixture in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Pour olive oil in a heavy skillet to a depth of about 2 to 2 1/2 inches. Heat to medium-hot but do not heat until smoking. When oil is hot and ready for browning the meatballs, run cold water over your hands to chill them.

Remove the cold meat mixture from the refrigerator. Shape individual meatballs. (I like meatballs to be slightly smaller than a pingpong ball, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. You want them small enough to cook quickly.)

Brown a few meatballs at a time in the hot olive oil. Turn meatballs to brown on all sides. When browned, remove from skillet and drain on paper towels. Makes 24 to 30 small meatballs.