Meatballs.
Meatballs simmering away on the stove.
Kitty wants a meatball.
Bijou trying to snatch a meatball for himself!
I'm full now.
In eight bites, I cleaned my plate.
The recipe:
OK, I've changed my mom's meatball recipe slightly, to make it healthier. She used a mixture of ground beef, veal and pork. I use lean ground white meat turkey. She would pan fry the meatballs in olive oil, before simmering them in the sauce. I bake my meatballs in the oven.
This recipe makes a *lot* of food. Depending upon how big I roll out the meat, I usually get 12 to 15 meatballs out of this. Plus tons of extra sauce for pasta. It's great for a crowd. But even though I live alone, I always make the entire recipe for myself, since it freezes perfectly into portions, and since it does take a while to make the whole thing, you might as well make a big batch and freeze it.
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Start the sauce.
To make the sauce -
Ingredients:
Olive oil.
1 onion, diced.
3 garlic cloves, smashed.
2 tablespoons tomato paste.
2 -28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes.
2 cups of water.
3 good pinches of salt.
Black pepper to taste.
5 basil leaves, chopped.
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped.
On high heat, coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil (about 3 tablespoons). When it heats up, add the onion and garlic. Saute until you can smell it. Add the tomato paste and saute for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, water, salt, pepper, basil and parsley. When the mixture comes to a boil, lower to a simmer. Yeah, your stovetop is gonna get messy, but it's so worth it.
Now start the meatballs.
To make the meatballs -
Ingredients:
1 pound of lean, ground white meat turkey. (Or whatever ground meat(s) you like. Any meat/combo works here.)
1 egg.
1/2 cup of grated parmesan or romano cheese.
2 garlic cloves, minced.
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped.
1 pinch of salt.
Black pepper to taste.
2 1/2 slices of white bread. (Do not use breadcrumbs. You have to use actual bread. Whole wheat works here, too.)
A bit of water.
Spray a cookie sheet very well with cooking spray.
Dump the turkey, egg, grated cheese, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper into a mixing bowl. Moisten the bread with water until it is very wet. Squeeze the water out of the bread (as if you were ringing out a sponge). Yes, you read correctly about the bread. Sounds weird, but do it. This is what makes the meatballs so yummy and soft. Crumble the moistened and squeezed-out bread between your fingers into the turkey mixture. Get your hands into the turkey/bread mixture, and mix to combine everything thoroughly. Squishy, messy! Roll the turkey mixture into meatballs, a little bit larger than the size of golf balls. Now go wash your freaking hands. Ewww! Bake in the 400 degree oven for 12 minutes, flip the meatballs and bake on the other side for another 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
Add the baked meatballs to the sauce, and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the sauce is thickened.