Tylar Calhoun
Diners are accustomed to bite-sized meatballs, so when they order the meatball plate at 3 Palms Pizzeria & Bakery, they’re flabbergasted by the single 6 1/2-ounce behemoth that arrives.
“When people come for the first time, they say, We’ll get a couple meatballs. It’s like, Why don’t you start with one?” says head chef Chad Rzymek at 3 Palms in Hudson.
Choose from three giant options: meat, vegetarian and chicken and turkey, which all start with a base of house-baked cubed bread, onion, salt, garlic, breadcrumbs, chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley and Grana Padana cheese. Then pick marinara or pistachio pesto. The most popular, also Rzymek’s fave, is traditional meat ($8.75) with marinara. Each day, chefs combine beef, veal and pork to form meatballs that are hefty for a juicier bite.
“We want to keep freshness and quality as high as we can,” Rzymek says.
The marinara is made with onions, garlic, spices, basil, other herbs and San Marzano tomatoes, which are imported from Italy for their high-liquid content that creates a succulent sauce. It also goes great with the Impossible burger vegetarian selection ($9.25), which is plant-based yet tastes and cooks like real meat.
An adventurous combo is the lighter chicken and turkey that pairs well with the bold pistachio pesto ($8.75, plus 50 cents for pesto).
Fresh house-roasted rotisserie chicken gets mixed with ground turkey, basil and fennel that brings a deep flavor. The pesto offers a strong contrast with fresh-picked basil, Parmesan, extra-virgin olive oil, raw garlic and toasted pistachio.
“It’s got more of an herbal taste. There’s a ton of basil,” Rzymek says.
While he’s seen diners eat a few — including a bodybuilder who ate two meatball plates and pasta with two meatballs, a whopping 26 ounces of meat — he recommends splitting one as an appetizer or making it an entree with a side salad like many regulars do.
Either way, Rzymek says this gargantuan dish is best enjoyed in small bites with its accompaniments, fresh house-made crusty ciabatta and house-made rich ricotta, along with a sauce or two.
“It’s getting the perfect little bite of meatball, cheese, sauce and bread,” he says. “It’s all meant to go together. That’s what I think of when I think of classic Italian.”
60 Village Way, Hudson, 3palmspizzeria.com
