Anyday Meatballs and Sauce

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When I think about where my love of cooking comes I always go back to my Grandma Frasca, and nothing reminds me more of her than Meatballs and Sauce with fresh homemade pasta. My grandmother was an amazing cook and spending hours in the kitchen with her during their annual summer visits is my all-time favorite childhood memory.

I have several different meatball recipes that I like to make, but these are the most influenced by my grandmothers. I like to call these Anyday Meatballs because they are the simplest to execute. The sauce benefits from a few hours of simmering time to develop the flavors, but you decide how long that should be!

I like a light, delicate meatball that is not at all dense. I always use fresh white bread and milk as my binder instead of dry bread crumbs. And, I truly believe that canned whole peeled tomatoes pushed through a food mill is far superior to processing in a food processor or crushed canned tomatoes. I have used all of these options and it’s always so much better when using a food mill. If you like a chunky sauce, leave the tomatoes whole, give them a good smoosh with your hands and let them cook down, that is how my grandmother did it.

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Tear up a couple of pieces of white bread and moisten with whole milk. Let soak for 10-15 minutes. Squeeze out and discard excess milk.
Finely chop Italian Parsley.
Use the fine, fine, fine side of your grater to get that powdery texture of Pecorino Romano. You could use Parmigiana Reggiano here, but Romano is the king of cheeses in my family. I also add all my ingredients and mix before adding the meats to the party. This keeps you from overworking the mixture and making your meatballs tough.
I like to use a combination of meats like you find in most meatball recipes, but these are yours so pick the meat that you like the best. My mix of choice is high-fat ground beef (80/20), ground veal, and ground pork. Lean meats tend to dry out and you want the fat for the silky luxurious feel in your mouth. Ground veal can be hard to come by and there are issues around veal. Soap Box moment: Best and only choice…Ethically raised veal is pink, not white. It has been raised without added hormones and is allowed more exercise than how calves have traditionally been raised for the veal market. Down off my soapbox…Here I’m using 2 parts beef and 1 part pork. Your hands are your best friends here for mixing.
Scoops are not just for ice cream. They are the perfect way to get the same-sized meatballs. I like about a 1-inch meatball so I use a small ice cream scoop. Use whatever size scoop makes you happy. It’s your meatball party! Grab your scoop and get scooping, leveling, and rolling.
I like to stage my rolled meatballs on a cookie sheet until I have them all rolled. You can sprinkle a little water on the pan if they are going to sit for a bit. I usually don’t find that necessary.
Time to brown those meatballs. Some people think that searing meats locks in juices, this is actually a misnomer. Meats release juices as they cook and then they suck them back in regardless of initial browning. The reason we brown is for flavor. That umami crust we build when we brown meats called the Maillard Reaction creates deliciousness, and then when we deglaze the pan with our liquids all that flavor goes to make our sauce rich and divine. You have some options for browning. My grandmother liked to brown in the oven on a cookie sheet. This is cleaner and you can cook all of the meatballs at one time, but you lose some of that goodness that sticks to the bottom of the pan. You can deglaze your sheet pan and add to the saucepot, but it’s not quite as good. My preferred way is to brown my meatballs in the pan I’m going to use for the sauce. Do this in batches over fairly high heat to get that gorgeous crust. Your meatballs do not need to be cooked through at this point. They will finish cooking in the sauce.
While your meatballs are browning get your sauce ingredients ready. I talked about my preference for milling the tomatoes above, so I will just leave that there! Dice your onions, small to medium dice, I like a smooth-ish sauce so I go for smaller dice and finely minced garlic.
Save the rinds from your Romano and Parmigiana, they add amazing flavor bombs to your soups and sauces.
After your meatballs are browned, use the fat that’s left in the pan to saute your onions and garlic until meltingly browned. You don’t want crispness on the edges of your onions, but you do want a nice deep color. Add in your tomato paste.
Really cook the tomato paste down. It should change from a bright red to a deeper mahogany color.
Once your paste, onion, and garlic mixture is deep mahogany deglaze with red wine, add in your tomatoes, salt, and the saved rind from Parmigiana or Romano and my secret is a little red wine or sherry vinegar. Bring to a simmer.
Add your meatballs back in, place the lid slightly askew, and let simmer for as many hours as you have the time for. I think, the longer the better, but you do what works for you. Finish with some torn fresh basil right before serving.
Anyday Meatballs and Sauce
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Anyday Meatballs and Sauce

Recipe by Chef JenCourse: Anyday DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium
Servings

8

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

2

hours 

These are my Anyday Meatballs and Sauce. They can cook all day or just until you need to serve dinner. Quantities are suggestions, make changes to suit you and yours.

Ingredients

  • Meatballs

  • 2 pieces white bread, crusts removed

  • 1/4 cup whole milk

  • 1 egg

  • 1/4 cup Italian parsley, finely minced

  • 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano, finely grated

  • 2 lbs ground beef, 80/20 preferred

  • 1 lb ground pork

  • 2 tsp kosher salt

  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

  • Sauce

  • 1 onion, small dice

  • 1 large clove garlic, finely minced

  • 7 oz tomato paste

  • 2 cups red wine

  • 2 ea – 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes, passed through a food mill

  • 1 Tablespoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, use less if using another brand

  • 2 Tablespoons Sherry Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar

  • 1 rind from Pecorino Romano or Parmigiana Reggiano

  • 4 oz fresh basil leaves

  • Pecorino Romano for serving

Directions

  • For meatballs: tear up bread and place in a small mixing bowl with the milk. Let soak for 10-15 minutes. Squeeze out excess milk and place moistened bread in another mixing bowl.
  • To the bread and milk mixture add the egg, parsley, and Romano. Mix until completely combined. Add the ground beef and pork and gently mix until there are no more large pieces of bread mixture showing. Careful not to over mix.
  • Using the scoop size of your choice, scoop, level, and roll meatballs. Depending on the size scoop you use you will get 12-32 meatballs.
  • Heat a heavy bottom dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil. When the oil is rippling in the bottom of the pan and just about to start smoking, add in the meatballs. Working in batches, making sure not to crowd the pan (I like a good 1-2 inches between each) brown on all sides. Remove meatballs to a plate and reserve.
  • Reduce heat to medium and add diced onion and garlic. Saute until the onion starts to “melt” and develops a deep brown coloring. Add in the tomato paste and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes.
  • When the onion, garlic, and tomato paste reaches the color of mahogany deglaze with red wine. Cook until the red wine reduces by half.
  • Add in the milled tomatoes, salt, vinegar, and Romano rind. Bring to a simmer and the reserved meatballs and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover with a lid slightly cracked, and simmer for 1 1/2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
  • Taste for seasoning, more salt? Maybe a dash more vinegar? Add torn basil leaves to serve.