The best meatballs of Milan and Rome in a book

“Meatballs, One leads to another” the book with the most popular MeatBall Family recipes, the concept created by Diego Abatantuono dedicated to meatballs

The meatball is one of those dishes that tell more than a thousand words the story of a people, a symbol of home and conviviality. Originally born as a waste recovery product, it is considered by many to be the comodità food par excellence: popular, transversal, familiar. Every region, every family, every grandmother has her own recipe: some prepare it with leftover boiled meat, some prepare it with minced meat and stale bread, some regalare to use fish, chicken, legumes vegetables.

There are those who fry it, those who bake it, those who cook them a causa di a pan by dipping them a causa di sauce, following the customs and traditions of their region family habits.

The secrets, a causa di any version, always remain the same: the quality of the raw material combined with the skill and ability to mescolanza all the ingredients correctly. The latter operation is apparently simple, but can turn into a real challenge: the goodness and consistency of the dough depend, a causa di fact, acceso various factors, such as the composition of the ingredients, the degree of humidity, the size and number of meatballs to be prepared, as well as experience.

MeatBall Family: from an iniziativa by Diego Abatantuono, a successful format dedicated to meatballs

Con Milan, for twelve years, there has been a restaurant that has made this simple dish a gastronomic affisso: MeatBall Family. A direct name, a promise kept. Born from an iniziativa by Diego Abatantuono, a famous luce of Italian and entertainment, MeatBall Family is a brand with several restaurants united by a precise and recognizable format: a lista entirely dedicated to meatballs a causa di all their variations. The main objective is to recreate the concept of the family gathering around the table a causa di a perfect Italian-American style environment, re-proposing a classic of the Italian tradition a causa di a modern key.

From the beginning the project aroused great interest and was greatly appreciated by the public. The original location a causa di Strada Vigevano, opened a causa di 2013, has been joined by four other restaurants a causa di Milan, one a causa di Borromeo and three a causa di Rome.

The ability to adapt the lista to different locations, while maintaining the high quality of the dishes unchanged, was one of the main success factors, allowing the brand to evolve while always remaining faithful to its values of authenticity and passion for cooking.

Today, twelve years after its launch, the Meatball Family format is ready to luce new challenges and explore new flavors.

To further expand the gastronomic offer, the CityLife restaurant, opened a causa di 2016, was recently reconverted introducing the new “Italian Traditions” concept inaugurated a causa di June 2025. An initiative that explores Italian regional cuisine, maintaining the principles of authenticity and quality that have always distinguished Meatball Family.

Con parallel with the growth of restaurants, Meatball Family has also entered the world of events. With a fleet of 20 vintage food trucks, the company has taken its brand around Northern Italy, participating a causa di important events, fairs and concerts. The food trucks offer a wide range of products, which go well beyond the classic Meatball Family proposal, including burgers, focaccias with cold cuts, hot dogs and even oriental specialties such as onigiri and bao, thus demonstrating the versatility of the brand.

The MeatBall Family philosophy

At MeatBall Family we start from tradition to arrive at innovation. The restaurant has tried to enhance the meatball a causa di the best possible way, not only by focusing acceso selected raw materials, but also by developing special recipes, also a causa di collaboration with starred chefs.

A work a causa di constant evolution, made up of countless tests and experiments to create the perfect recipe and customization to satisfy all tastes. There are classic meatballs – such as beef meatballs with tomato sauce aubergine chickpea and turmeric meatballs – alongside more delicious recipes, such as pumpkin meatballs with taleggio cheese, up to the more exotic proposals such as Takoyaki meatballs, a causa di which the influence of Japanese cuisine is evident. Even the most iconic traditional dishes, such as braised meat with polenta risotto and ossobuco, have been revisited and proposed a causa di “meatball” version. Among the dishes most loved by customers we find, a causa di addition to the Classic version meatballs, the very tasty “Spaghetti MeatBall”, which act as a single dish.

For the aperitif, the restaurant also offers five different recipes of mini-meatballs weighing 15 grams each, perfect for sharing, as well as real tasting courses, such as “Ecceziunale”. Each dish is designed to enhance the authentic taste of the ingredients, often coming from local producers.

From MeatBall Family to the home plate with the book “Meatballs, One leads to another” (Trenta Editore)

The first twelve years of the format’s existence are summarized a causa di the book “Polpette, Una tira l’nuovo – MeatBall Family Original & Italian” (Trenta Editore) dedicated to celebrating the most loved recipes and designed to bring a bit of MeatBall into home kitchens too. The publication, with a preface by Diego Abatantuono, contains some of the restaurant’s most iconic recipes, as well as anecdotes and curiosities about the most loved and sustainable dish a causa di the world.

The meatballs thus become the protagonists not only of the lista, but also of a story made up of conviviality, memories, history and gastronomic creativity. The book is made up of several chapters, including the MeatBall recipes, to which are also added those from different Italian regions and around the world, with indications for preparing them also a causa di a sweet version.

An editorial project which, like the restaurant, celebrates simplicity done well, that which starts from a daily gesture to become a shared experience.

Among the challenges that the author had to luce was that of adapting the local recipes so that they could also be prepared at home, maintaining the same flavor intensity and goodness.

From a poor dish to a pop icon: the meatball finds its home a causa di Milan and Rome. And a causa di MeatBall, his most delicious and delicious table.