With cheese and spices and a ricotta cheese topping, the LAVO One Pound Meatball is a MUST HAVE for any Italian meal!
LAVO One Pound Meatball is a visual showstopper for any meal. It also happens to be the best giant meatball you will ever eat.
Have you ever had the type of meal that sticks with you for years? About 3 years ago, I was in Las Vegas for my birthday and ate at LAVO in the Venetian Hotel.
Our party ordered a couple of the famous “LAVO ONE POUND MEATBALLS” as appetizers. I was instantly disappointed when they hit the table because I hadn’t ordered one as my entree.
The name is no joke. Yes, the LAVO One Pound Meatball is nothing but one pound of meat, some sauce, and a dollop of cool, fresh ricotta cheese. Pure heaven for this Italian girl.
That dish was seared into my memory. So much so that I had it written on my to-do list when I came across an article from FOX news with the exact recipe straight from the chef!
Here is what I learned from Chef John Deloach of LAVO New York’s about making the infamous LAVO One Pound Meatballs:
- Do not overwork the meat. Many cooks unintentionally overwork meatballs, meatloaf, and even hamburgers. Allow yourself to mix until just combined and then toss and pat to firm together instead of mixing and kneading.
- If the meat feels loose, add more breadcrumbs. Because of the massive size of this thing, you might need more than you’d usually add to hold it together.
- Since you can’t really slice one open, make sure you take the internal temperature to ensure the meatball is done. It should read 160 degrees.
I took the liberty of making a few changes to the original recipe for LAVO One Pound Meatballs. I hope you like them!
More delicious recipes:
Italian Beef Braciole Recipe (without Egg)
Eggplant Rollatini
LAVO One Pound Meatball Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground meatloaf mix (veal, pork, and beef)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 cup fresh Italian bread no crust, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup dry Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup Romano cheese grated
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped, plus more for garnish
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup yellow onion minced
- 4 large garlic cloves crushed
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil divided
- 4 cups of your favorite marinara sauce homemade or bottled
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
Instructions
- Soak fresh Italian bread cubes in milk for 10 minutes. Squeeze and drain milk, reserving the bread. Set aside.
- In a sauté pan, heat ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil. Saute down garlic and onions until soft. Season with fine sea salt and black pepper and set aside to cool.
- When onions and garlic are cool, squeeze out the excess liquid and combine with meat mixture and remaining ingredients except the additional virgin olive oil, marinara sauce, and ricotta cheese. Do not overwork mixture.
- Divide meat mixture into thirds. From each third, form meatballs into meatballs by tossing from hand to hand.
- Refrigerate meatballs for a minimum of one hour, but as much as overnight. This helps the flavors and meat to congeal.
- In an oven-safe sauté pan, brown meatballs in the remaining ½ extra virgin olive oil, rolling so all sides are browned. Remove from skillet to paper towel lined plate and discard extra fat and oil. Clean the skillet and return meatballs.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover meatballs with marinara sauce. Bring the skillet back up to a boil on your stove top and then immediately transfer to the hot oven. Continue to bake for 1 hour, or until centers reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
- Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Top each meatball with ricotta cheese and freshly chopped parsley.
- Enjoy your GIANT LAVO One Pound Meatballs!
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
This sounds delicious. I’ll definitely be making this. I normally shy away from meatballs because they’re so time consuming, but I feel like one giant one might be easier than a bunch of little ones.
Certainly when you look at the time it takes to form them, but this recipe is a little intense in preparation. Defiantly not a 30-minute meal. More of a leisurely Sunday afternoon in the kitchen.
Wowza! My hubby would love this 😉
I love this! It’s absolutely fantastic! Really just want to dig right in 🙂
I’ve never had anything like this, but oh my goodness it looks and sounds amazing! I have all of those ingredients… MUST make this!
that sounds really good. I don’t usually make homemade meatballs because I can never perfect it.
Woah! That is one BIG meatball! My dad would go crazy for this! I think I just figured out his birthday dinner! Thank you!
A pound of meat! Yum! My nana makes these humungo meatballs and I can barely even eat one.
I usually make three and serve it family style. Although they are so good, I might be able to eat one by myself if I didn’t eat anything else.
This looks great! I’m wondering if my husband would allow me to make this for dinner one night.
That’s a huge meatball. My husband ( or any carnivore) would love that!
Wow! That’s one heck of a meatball! Looks delicious!
My family would get a kick out of this!
Oh my goodness– I still dream about that 1 pound meatball I had at Lavo!! It was amazing!! Love that you recreated it!
That is one giant and delicious-looking meatball!
That is one big meatball. It looks fantastic!
That is one big tasty looking meatball :).
My family would love this! It looks delicious!
That is one gigantic meatball! My kids would flip!
I making spaghetti without the noodles and only the meatballs! I could see my self eating this!
One thing is for sure. That is one huge meatball. I love all the ingredients that went into it, so I bet it tastes GREAT!!
That is one fantastic looking meatball!
Thank you Christine!