Notes
*Grate the onion using a box grater so that you can have some of the onion juices with pieces. If you don’t have a box grater, a mini prep food processor will also work. The juices of the onion are used to soak and soften the bread. Or, you can very finely chop the onion and then soak the bread in a little milk with the flaxseed.
*I use flaxseed with a little milk to help bind these meatballs together, instead of an egg. If you want a vegetarian version, you can use an egg. I tested this recipe both with flaxseed and without and couldn’t taste a difference in the flaxseed version and it held up slightly better than the kind without. That said, they were both fairly firm and if you don’t have flaxseed, you will be ok. You’ll just want to take care when adding them to your sauce.
*The fennel adds a nice sausage-like flavor to these meatballs, but you can omit. You can use ground fennel or do what I do– crush fennel seeds until coarsely ground, using a mortar and pestle.
*My grandma always put parmesan cheese in her meatballs and I love the salty, umami flavor it gives. You can omit it if you’d like.
*I don’t think these meatballs need much extra salt, especially if you are using parmesan cheese and assuming you are serving them with a salted sauce. If you plan on serving them on their own, then I’d recommend cooking one to taste, then adding more salt as desired to your mixture, if needed.