When it comes to meatballs, top cop Ray Kelly is a top chef.
The NYPD commisioner has been quietly cooking up his own spicy version of the Italian staple for years, to rave reviews.
Kelly yesterday released the recipe when it was learned he was a meatball maestro at the mayor’s recent annual team-building gathering of top officials at the Institute of Culinary Education.
The key to Kelly’s recipe, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne, is the inclusion of sauteed onions.
Kelly browns his version of veal, pork and beef meatballs in a pan and then cooks them in red sauce.
He even cooks them in his NYPD office but not as much as he did in earlier years, Browne said.
“I’ve tasted them,” said Browne.
“They are outstanding. They are moist. They do melt in your mouth, not in your hands.”
Meatballs à la Kelly
Ingredients:
One pound of veal, pork and beef in equal portions; one egg; flavored bread crumbs, or just bread; a lot of garlic; pepperoncini; Italian parlsey; basil; parmesan cheese; sauteed onions (the “secret ingredient.”)
Instructions: “It’s hands- on,” says Kelly. “Summon your inner Italian.”