Real meatballs are baked, vaguely like little meatloafs. I used to make my own scratch but cooking isn't a priority any more. allrecipes.com has some good recipes. It was my go-to back in the day.
Drain off any fat. Add about half as much breadcrumb as the volume of meat. A little mashed zucchini or bean paste wouldn't hurt. Then raw eggs. Can't say how many, since I don't know how much meat you have. Make it two. Mush everything together very well. Then wash and dry your hands, spread a thin layer of breadcrumbs on a clean counter. Form little balls of the meat mixture between your palms and roll them onto the breadcrumbs in a single layer. If you dip your hands in the breadcrumbs from time to time, they won't stick so much. When all the balls are made, place them, one by one, in a hot oily skillet. Roll them around in the oil, gently, over medium heat until browned on all sides. Add the spaghetti sauce. Or save yourself a lot of work and just add the sauce to the ground beef.
Yeah, you've already blown it. Start with raw ground pork and beef, or just pork. This according to Polpo, my Italian cookery book. Add about 10-15% by weight breadcrumbs, plus desired spices. For pork, I favour fennel seeds, lightly toasted and then ground in a mortar, plus some garlic ground in the mortar with a little salt, some chilli flakes and maybe a bit of chopped parsley. Add a beaten egg (or just the yolk, depending on how much you are making), enough to wet the breadcrumbs a bit and bind the mixture so it is suitable to make into balls 4-5cm diameter. Put these in a preheated hot oven (200C, gas mark 6) on a lightly oiled and preheated baking tray, for 10-15 mins, turning once. Then poach for 10 mins more in a standard Italian tomato sauce that you have prepared earlier. Bigger balls obviously need a bit more cooking. (Don't undercook pork, obviously.) Good with linguine. I quite like a bit of cavolo nero on the side - apart from the good taste, it makes a nice colour contrast on the plate.
No. Once you've cooked meat, it's pretty much committed to being whatever you cooked. Sometimes you can turn it into something else with heroic effort. But your best bet would be to look up a recipe for whatever you want to cook before you apply heat to any of the ingredients.
