Inspired by Food Network’s host, judge and celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli’s meatball recipe with her homemade sauce. Her tomato sauce is divine – I used Unico Premium Italian Diced Tomatoes Pezzettoni. You should use high quality canned tomatoes. You can substitute cherry tomatoes for plum tomatoes or any tomatoes locally grown and in season. I tweaked Alex’s method with her meatballs. Sometimes I omit parsley in the meatballs. I make Tomato Sauce first and meanwhile I cook the meatballs. I like this dish accompanied by 12 oz/375 g spaghetti.
Note: Instead of browning meatballs, you could drop raw meatballs in simmering Tomato Sauce for 20 to 25 minutes. I compared both cooking styles – I don’t have the preference. Dropping raw meatballs in the sauce yielded slightly softer meatballs.
Tomato Sauce:
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, halved and thinly sliced
¼ tsp each: salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 fresh ripe plum tomatoes, cored and diced
1 tsp each: dried oregano and granulated sugar
28 oz/796 mL can diced tomatoes
Meatballs:
1 lb/500g lean ground beef
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup panko breadcrumbs soaked in ⅓ cup milk
⅓ cup finely chopped Italian parsley
¼ tsp salt and hot pepper flakes
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup vegetable oil
For the Tomato Sauce, in large saucepan or deep skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook onions, garlic, salt and pepper for 15 minutes, stirring often, or until onions are tender. Stir in plum tomatoes, oregano and sugar; cook 1 minute. Stir in canned tomatoes with their juices. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer; cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make Meatballs: In large bowl, using fork or your hands, stir together one at a time beef, Parmesan cheese, panko breadcrumbs soaked in milk, parsley, salt, hot pepper flakes and egg. Roll mixture into balls about 1½ inches/4 cm in diameter. You should have about 20 meatballs. Let them sit in the fridge for 30 minutes or more.
In large frying pan, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. In one or 2 batches, cook meatballs, turning once, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer meatballs to plate using slotted spoon. Drain fat from frying pan; don’t clean it.
Transfer the Tomato Sauce into frying pan where meatballs were cooking, scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Place in the browned meatballs in the sauce. Cover; simmer for 5 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
Makes about 4 servings.