Ace's Den Meatballs in San Marzano Tomato Sauce
"meatballs and sauce"
- Ready In:
- 50mins
- Ingredients:
- 16
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 1 1⁄2 1 1/2 lbs ground beef (any combo you want, some stores even have meatloaf mix already ground for you...that's perfect) or 1 1/2 lbs ground veal (any combo you want, some stores even have meatloaf mix already ground for you...that's perfect)
- 1⁄2 chopped onion
- 2 pieces white bread (crust removed)
- milk
- fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- kosher salt
- pepper
- 1⁄2 cup pecorino romano cheese
- 2 eggs
-
For Sauce
- 2 (28 ounce) cans san marzano tomatoes, just look for it on the label (you can use regular...but San Marzano taste amazing, brand I use is Centro)
- 1⁄2 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
directions
- Sauce.
- Chopped onion and garlic for Tomato Sauce.
- Open the canned tomatoes Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to a pan over medium heat.
- Add a teaspoon of both salt and pepper.
- Cook onion and garlic until see through then add the Tomatoes (I usually buy the whole tomatoes and crush them by hand -- but that's up to you).
- Bring to a boil and then bring the heat down to low and simmer while you make the meatballs.
- Meatballs.
- First remove the crust from each slice of bread. Then pour 1/2 cup of milk into a bowl and add the bread to soak up the milk.
- As the bread soaks in the bowl add extra virgin olive oil to a pan (about 2 tablespoons) over medium head and add chopped onion and garlic.
- Add salt and pepper (about a teaspoon of both)Cook both until the onions are see through then remove from heat. Keep the pan to cook the meatballs.
- You can skip this step but I really like my garlic and onion in very small pieces. Place the onion garlic mixture on a cutting board and finely chop.
- Go back to the bread and squeeze out the excess milk and add milk soaked bread to a large bowl.
- Add the 2 eggs, pecorino cheese, parsley and meat to the bowl along with the onion and garlic mixture. Add salt and pepper to your liking, depending on your taste.
- Take off all jewlery and get your hads dirty! mixed everything around my hand -- careful not to over work the mixture of your meatballs! We want soft delicate balls.
- Make golfball sized meatballs rolling them around in your hand to make the correct shape.
- Add 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil to the pan again and heat to medium high.
- Add meatballs to cover the bottom of the pan with room to spare to turn them over.Do not over crowd the pan or they will not cook. This might have to be done in 2-3 batches.but its worth it.
- Brown all sides turning them over every 3-4 minutes.
- After all sides are browned put meatballs in simmering sauce while you make your pasta (if not making pasta cook the meatballs in the sauce for 15-20 mins to make sure they are cooked through).
- Boil water for pasta (add salt to the water).
- Cook pasta drain and add everything together.if you have some fresh basil it would taste amazing here -- add more cheese as you wish and enjoy!
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Reviews
-
Adam - you are right - the San Marzano tomatoes make a huge difference. I substituted 1/2 buttermilk and 1/2 plain yogurt for the milk when soaking the bread -- I think this added a bit of depth to the flavor. YUMMY meatballs! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Tweaks
-
Adam - you are right - the San Marzano tomatoes make a huge difference. I substituted 1/2 buttermilk and 1/2 plain yogurt for the milk when soaking the bread -- I think this added a bit of depth to the flavor. YUMMY meatballs! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
