🍅 Italian Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

  • Prep time: 20 mins
  • Cook time: 35 mins
  • Additional time: 4 hours and 20 mins
  • Total time: 5 hours and 35 mins
  • Serves: ≈15 meatballs and sauce for 3
Ingredients Steps
Meatballs
  • 3 tbsp plain bread crumbs
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 1 pound (500g) ground beef/pork/veal mix
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes
  • ½ tsp dried italian herb seasoning
  • 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
  1. Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes.
  2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; stir in onion. Cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking and stirring until onion is very tender, about 15 minutes more.
  3. Gently stir beef and pork together in a large bowl (do not overmix). Stir onions, bread crumb mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian herb seasoning, and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.
  4. Cook the meatballs till they reach 160°F.
Tomato Sauce
  • 2 cans tomato purée
  • 1 can peeled plum tomatoes
  • 2 cloves garil, crushed
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1⁄4 tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1⁄4 grated parmesan cheese
  1. Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil.
  2. Empty plum tomatoes into large bowl and squash with your hands.
  3. Add all ingredients (including any meatballs or sausage you want to add) to pot and simmer for 3 hours.
Sources