Mama Maroni's Meatballs and Sauce

Name: Mama Maroni's Meatballs and Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 8-10 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 lb ground chuck; 4 ounces dried breadcrumbs; 4 large eggs; 4 ounces whole milk; 6 ounces romano cheese, grated; 3 ounces Spanish onions, grated or minced; 2 ounces garlic, minced; 2 ounces fresh Italian parsley; 2 ounces fresh basil, chopped; salt and pepper; 6 ounces olive oil, good quality, not extra virgin; 12 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced; 1 large Spanish onion, chopped; 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 1/2 cup fresh basil, shredded

Submitted by BETHANY T.

"From "Throwdown with Bobby Flay". My boyfriend Loves this dish, he say's that they are the best meatballs he has ever eaten. They are great served with spaghetti or especially good served in a toasted hoagie roll with a little melted cheese on top. The sauce is thick and full of flavor. Be sure to use good quality "Crushed" tomatoes, not diced or stewed etc. It's key to the sauce coming out perfectly. I add a little red pepper flakes for a little more kick. Also, the original recipe doesn't mention adding salt to the meat mixture, but it is needed in my opinion. These are super easy and so, so good!"

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photo by kehausantiago

Ready In:: 55mins
Ingredients:: 17
Serves:: 8-10

ingredients

For Meatballs
1 lb ground chuck
4 ounces dried breadcrumbs
4 large eggs
4 ounces whole milk
6 ounces romano cheese, grated
3 ounces Spanish onions, grated or minced
2 ounces garlic, minced
2 ounces fresh Italian parsley
2 ounces fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper
For Sauce
6 ounces olive oil, good quality, not extra virgin
12 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced
1 large Spanish onion, chopped
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper
¹⁄₂ cup fresh basil, shredded

directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Mix together all meatball ingredients. If mixture seems too loose, add more breadcrumbs. (Mixture will be very moist.).
Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
Roll meatballs into golfball sized balls.
Bake for 35-40 minutes.
While meatballs are baking, heat olive oil over medium heat.
Saute onions until soft. Add garlic and saute until onions start to brown.
Add Tomatoes, salt and pepper. Add some red pepper flakes if desired. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
Adjust seasonings.
Stir in basil.
I like to add the meatballs to the finished sauce so that the flavors can meld.
If you are using the meatballs only for sandwiches, you can halve the sauce recipe, but if you want sauce for pasta, use full recipe.

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Reviews

Grandma Maroni's 100 year old recipe form food network throw down with Bobby Flay: Made meatball subs with these. Even better the next day. I doubled the recipe to aim for 48 total meatballs, ended up with 39. Here are my converted values to cups : Meatballs: 2 # ground Chuck 80%, 1 c milk, 1 c bread crumbs, 8 eggs, 3 cups grated Romano, 1 Spanish med onion grated, 2 heads (about 20 cloves) of garlic pushed through a garlic press, 1 bunch diced fresh parsley and 1/2 chopped fresh basil about a bunch and a quarter. Add salt. Wonderful meatballs! This is better then the CI meatballs my other favorite recipe. Marinara- double recipe for spaghetti 3/4 cup olive oil,12 cloves garlic minced, 1 Spanish onion chopped, 2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 c fresh basil shredded ( about a bunch and a 1/4) Preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Mix together all meatball ingredients. Mixture will be very moist.Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.Roll meatballs into golfball sized balls. Bake for 35-40 minutes. While meatballs are baking, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onions until soft. Add garlic and sauté until onions start to brown. Add Tomatoes, salt and pepper. Add some red pepper flakes if desired. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Stir in basil. I just wanted to add that the sauce was fantastic the next day- maybe the flavored mingles more. Very fresh and clean taste. Restaurant quality. I don't know why but when I first made it last night it had a tomato juice after taste to it. Not today. Enjoy! (I may add tomato paste to it and see if that helps for immediate use after making.)

lilacrosebouquet
This is a great recipe for meatballs and sauce, although I might make a couple of changes next time. I found the sauce had way too much oil in it, which got even greasier after adding the meatballs. But the flavor is great, so I would just reduce the olive oil next time. I used crushed San Marzano tomatoes, which you can't go wrong with. I did not spray the baking sheet with anything but sat the meatballs on some nonstick aluminum foil on the baking sheet. They actually exuded quite a bit of grease as well. There really is quite a lot of cheese in these meatballs, which you can adjust if that's not to your liking. I ended up with 24 meatballs, which I added to the sauce when they were done. Definitely a crowd pleaser! Thanks for sharing.

JackieOhNo!
This makes fantastic sauce and meatballs. Our whole family loves it. I have frozen the leftovers to use later, and it worked great. I use a bit less olive oil in the sauce, still tastes great.

Chocokind
This recipe is the best. The only suggestion I would have is to turn the meatballs halfway thru. Mine burned (but I think it's because I didn't use enough olive oil on the baking pan, and also my pans are old. Other than that, awesome recipe. As a kid in NY, my friend's mom used to make meatballs and sauce every Sunday, and this tastes identical. I did make special effort to get the freshest ingredients, and it definitely paid off.

Payen