Posts tagged ‘meatballs’

Feb 1

A Meatball Hero For Super Bowl Sunday And A Giveaway!!

Meatballs in Uncle Steve’s Tomato Basil Sauce

The wonderful and very generous people at Uncle Steve’s NY’s have offered to send a lucky reader a trio of sauces (see photo below). This is a terrific gift and you will have the opportunity to try Uncle Steve’s sauce for yourself. To say thank you I am making Steve his favorite meatballs with pine nuts and raisins and I am serving as a meatball hero. My Mom also made these so when Steve mentioned it was his favorite Sunday Supper it reminded me of my Mom also. The meatballs are first fried and then simmered in Uncle Steves Tomato Basil sauce. I am really loving this, I kid you not it tastes like my homemade sauce. I will still make my own but this sauce is a great alternative when you are in a hurry or just don’t feel like cooking.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment below. The sauce will be sent to you directly from Uncle Steve’s NY and the winner will be chosen through a random drawing via Random.org. The drawing is only open to those living in the Continental US, I am so sorry my dear friends overseas. The drawing will be on Friday February 6th.

Uncle Steve’s Sauce

I used my recipe for Meatballs and added pine nuts and raisins, simmered in Uncle Steve’s Tomato Basil sauce and served on a soft roll with lots of melty cheese, now that’s a sandwich!!

Putting it all together

Meatballs

1 lb ground beef – 80% I like chuck

1 lb ground pork or loose Italian sausage meat, sweet or hot

handful flat leaf parsley chopped

1/2 cup grated cheese – parmigiana or romano or both

2 eggs lightly beaten

2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup pine nuts lightly toasted

1/4 cup raisins

salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in mixing bowl and mix together, gently, don’t knead the meat or press on it. Form into balls I like them to be about the size of a hand ball. Heat some oil, olive works nicely in a skillet add some meatballs and fry until they are nicely browned on all sides, make sure there is space between each meatball while frying you don’t want to over crowd the pan. When done place in pot of sauce and simmer. Because I used already made sauce I didn’t cook as long if you are cooking the meatballs in homemade sauce I like to simmer for hours, literally hours maybe 3 or 4 hours on medium low heat.

Note: It’s hard to judge the correct seasoning so I add some salt and microwave a small piece to test for seasoning.

I simmered the meatballs in the sauce around 30 minutes. Slice open your bread, pre heat the broiler, brush the bread with olive oil and minced garlic, grate some cheese on both sides of the bread and put in the broiler until just very light brown, remove and add mozzarella to one side and put back in until the mozzarella is melted. Spoon meatballs and a little sauce on one side and close it up. Enjoy the sandwich and the game!! I don’t watch football so I will be enjoying my meatball hero while watching Downton Abbey.

Out of the broiler

Mar 2

19 Comments

Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

This is a terrific recipe for meatballs, we didn’t have them very often usually my Mom’s sauce was either meatless (Marinara) or cooked with chunks of beef and pork, but I do remember her meatballs being delicious, the consistency was soft and after leaving home I tried to make them like hers but never quite got there. I had never asked her for the recipe until last week and it was one of those Ah-ha moments when she gave me the list of ingredients. She adds Italian sausage meat, I had made them with ground pork and beef but never sausage. The taste is distinctive, the meatballs are very soft and moist (sometimes meatballs can be rubbery). They are seared and then cooked in the sauce slowly just about all day. Have it over pasta or make a meatball sub or grinder, anyway you serve it it’s delicious.

Makes: 16 large meatballs and approximately 8 cups of sauce

Sauce:

3 cloves garlic thinly siliced

1 shallot minced

4.5 oz tube tomato paste or 3/4 of a 6 oz can

3 28 oz cans whole tomatoes

olive oil for pan

5 leaves fresh basil +3 after sauce is cooked

salt and pepper to taste

NOTE: You can add a little sugar if your sauce is too sour (it happens sometimes)

Meatballs:

1 lb ground beef (80%fat) I like chuck

1 lb sausage meat

handful italian parsley chopped

1/2 cup grated parmigiano or pecorino romano cheese

2 large eggs

2 cups fresh breadcrumbs from day old bread (I like to use ciabatta)

1/2 cup water

2 tsp salt

several turns of the peppermill

You will need a large mixing bowl, add the meat and mix with spoon or with your hands. Pulse the bread in the food processor add to the meat along with 1/2 cup water, add the parsley, cheese, eggs and salt and pepper. Mix together until it’s all combined. Form into meatballs, I like mine about the size of a handball. In a non stick skillet heat some olive oil, place the meatballs about 1 inch apart and fry so they are browned on each side but not cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside. Keep the oil and drippings in the skillet you will need it for the sauce.

To dutch oven add the oil from the meat that was fried (only enough to coat the bottom of the pan) then the shallot and cook until soft, add the garlic and let it cook until the garlic just starts to brown (takes only about 3 minutes) on medium high heat. Add the tomato paste and cook stirring constantly until it caramelizes. Puree the tomatoes in the blender or food processor until smooth and add to the onion,garlic and tomato paste, stir to combine and then add the meatballs and slow cook on medium/low heat covered for at least 3-4 hours stirring frequently, or if cooking all day use low heat so it just simmers, stirring occasionally.