Sounds simple, right? Maybe even boring.

To be honest, I never really made meatballs before those Award Winning Poker Meatballs… you know, the ones stuffed with cheese? What, I may have made some another time a while back when we had friends over and did a holiday potluck… If I remember correctly, they were really big.

In any case, at our last Cooking Class at Saga Hill, the theme was Italian Done Right. The premise was that although it can be satisfying, places like Buca di Beppo and Cossetta’s aren’t truly Italian. So one of the things we learned was to make meatballs in tomato sauce.

This dinner is one of those high-protein, minimally processed ones you can be proud of.

At Saga Hill, Chef Marianne likes to teach the “method” rather than a recipe. She sends the recipes out after the class via email. After following the pretty easy approach in class, I was determined to action those meatballs again right away for Rob. I pulled up the recipe she sent and realized that it was actually quite different from what we did in class!

This made me realize that it was more important that I learned the method… and that there was room to improvise. I could take that method, along with her tips and tricks that I learned in class and use the recipe as a guide. Then I just used what was in my pantry… and followed my gut.

Here is the Rob-Approved-Keeper-Recipe that I created. He didn’t want me to change a thing for next time, so I thought I’d make an account of exactly what I did so that I don’t improvise next time!

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• garlic, minced
• pinch crushed red pepper
• 12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained {I used the kind with onions and garlic.}
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c panko (or bread crumbs)
• 8 oz lean ground beef
• 8 oz ground pork
• finely chopped fresh rosemary and thyme (about 1-2 Tbsp)
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 c grated parmesan
• shredded parmesan for garnish (optional)

Method:

• Heat large skillet with olive oil.
• Add diced onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent.
• Add crushed red pepper and stir in quartered cherry tomatoes.
• Stir in canned tomatoes (with juices!)
• Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low to simmer.
• In a medium bowl, beat one egg.
• Mix panko into beaten egg mixture.
• Add meat, fresh herbs, salt, pepper and parmesan.
• Mix well with hands so that seasonings are well-distributed. Add water if needed to get desired texture.
• Form into about one-inch diameter balls (maybe a little less). I yielded exactly 30 balls.
• Stir the sauce before adding balls because you won’t be able to stir it for a while.
• Add balls directly to simmering sauce and increase the heat.
• Turn balls often and continue to until cooked through. (You may have to sacrifice a ball or two to check!)

When meatballs are just about cooked, you can stir the sauce with the intact balls to keep the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Serve alone or atop pasta or spaghetti squash. Sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese. (Optional)

Some tips I learned from class:

• Traditional Italian meatballs call for a combination of beef, pork (sausage) and veal, but you can work with whatever you have.
• It’s best to use a combination of raw and canned tomatoes.
• Use whatever herbs you’d like – oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, etc.
• Use 1 egg per lb of meat.
• If you are tearing bread to create breadcrumbs, soak them in a little bit of milk.
• Don’t make your meatballs too big. Make an “O” with your thumb and forefinger. That should be about right.

I like that I usually have these kinds of ingredients on hand, so it’ll be an easy go-to “recipe” that Rob will love!

What is your favorite meat combo for meatballs?

What herbs do you like to use?

Cheers~

Carrie