Meatballs Pizziola A La Uncle Terry and Uncle Terry

My Uncle Terry, who is also my Godfather, has always been a terrific cook. For as long as I can remember, he has been involved with the VFW in Kingston, NY and has had to spend many weekends cooking in the kitchen there for a patron who rented the hall for a party. Sometimes I would see my Aunt Christine and she would be alone. She'd say he has been in the kitchen since 7am making tomato sauce, sausage and peppers, spaghetti, meatballs, baked ziti- you name it, he had been cooking all day. I couldn't imagine anyone cooking for that long until I spent the day with him once to see what all the fuss was about.

I suppose the reason I couldn't imagine it taking all day is because I couldn't imagine how much tomato sauce one would have to make for a party of 100 people. I was floored when I saw the giant pots and pans he was using. It wasn't a pot of tomato sauce, it was a vat. One of my uncle's many talents is that not only can he make homemade tomato sauce for 100 people, but he makes it taste delicious. If you have ever tried to double or triple recipes, you know what I am talking about- it is difficult to keep the integrity of the recipe when adding so much together at once. My uncle has a knack for making gallons of food at a time.

I used to be invited over for corned beef and cabbage over St. Patrick's Day. I didn't make it over there too many times, but the fragrant cabbage would take over their house and you would have to wait until Uncle Terry told you it was ready. Again- large amounts of food for so many people, but tasted as if he had made it just for you.

One time my Aunt Christine and Uncle Terry came to Columbus to visit me and my family. My sisters particularly loved when Uncle Terry visited, he was always so much fun with the kids and they were young enough to appreciate all of Uncle Terry's many characters he portrayed- most notably, the "Tickle Monster." He is definitely a kid at heart and would take them on a shopping spree at the Toys R Us and let them pick out whatever they wanted. You could tell this was his favorite thing to do because he loved to see their reaction. They would look at him in disbelief and cry, "ANYTHING?!" He would say, "Whatever you want, you get." It was like Uncle Terry turned into Santa Claus for an hour.

During this trip, it wasn't long before he needed to make a trip to the grocery. Not just any trip- he came home with a week's full of groceries to make us one dinner. This was always my favorite part of the visit because I could watch him cook and learn new things in the kitchen. And because Uncle Terry was used to cooking in such quantity, there was bound to be leftovers for me to take to my apartment fridge. He had been talking about a surprise meatball that he was going to cook up for us that night, and nobody knew what could be different about a meatball.

Uncle Terry made his classic meatballs and sauce, but this time put a twist on the recipe. When you took a bite out of the meatball, you would be greeted with melted mozzarella cheese and pepperoni! This was an innovation nobody at my house had ever seen- it was like a pizza in a meatball. Soon after, the recipe was deemed Meatballs Pizziola A La Uncle Terry and it is a recipe that will never be forgotten. I never did get to take leftovers home that night- all of them were eaten. I often speak about delivery pizza chains and how if they could find another place to put extra cheese, they would. They are constantly doing two-layer pizzas with cheese in between, stuffed crust and cheesy bread. Perhaps if they thought of another place to put pizza, they would be sitting on a goldmine. Putting pizza inside a meatball is one of my all-time favorite dishes!