Sunday, April 11, 2010

Down Home Comfort Food

Attention pasta lovers...new recipe alert.

Until this week, I haven't made meatballs for many years...a decade, maybe.  But this week, after some urging by husband and child, I decided to make them, along with a new tomato sauce recipe.  I researched the internet for recipes and finally landed on two easy-looking recipes, both of which had rave reviews (5 stars out of 5 stars) by followers of allrecipes.com.  We now share those rave reviews.

In case you, too, are looking for good recipes for both meatballs and tomato sauce, please enjoy these:

Meatballs Nirvana

1 pound extra lean ground beef (I used organic, but any will do)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 onion, diced (raw)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1-1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
3/4 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (which I further ground in my coffee-turned-spice grinder)
1 dash hot pepper sauce, like Tobasco (I probably used a bit more)
1-1/2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used the shake-on kind)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup skim milk (I used a wee bit less - added this last to see what consistency I'd get)

Preheat oven to 200 Celsius/400 Farenheit
Mix 'em up...using your hands to get everything well incorporated.
Form them into balls.  I used a medium-sized cookie scoop to get a consistent size, but whatever.
Put them onto a baking sheet and bake for a total of 30 minutes (after 20 minutes, I turned them so they'd get nice and brown on the other side, too)

The original recipe says that I'd get about 12 meatballs out of one recipe, but I doubled the recipe and got 60 meatballs.  I used what I wanted for that meal, and froze the rest of the cooked meatballs in a freezer bag...to be used next time the craving strikes.

Note: this picture doesn't do justice to how the meatballs really looked - this was taken before I turned them and let the topside brown...they really do look much more delish than this picture gives them credit for...and the taste....

Homemade Tomato Sauce

4 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used less)
1 large onion, diced
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes (I doubled the recipe and used 1 can of crushed, and one can of diced - it was lovely to have some chunks)
2 cups of water (I used about 1/2 cup less)
1 small can tomato paste
3-4 fresh basil leaves
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper

In a large pot over medium-high heat, saute onions in the oil until golden brown (this takes a bit of time; don't rush it - you want the flavours of the golden onions).
Add everything else.
Let the sauce come to a boil, then lower heat and stir occasionally until desired thickness.  I let mine simmer for about 2 hours, to let the flavours meld together.  If any oil rises to the top, skim it off (it didn't in my case, probably because the beef I used was extremely lean organic beef and absorbed the bit of oil I put in).



Serve sauce and meatballs over whole wheat linguine or spaghetti, with a side of salad, and enjoy!!

1 comment:

  1. Mmmm... marinara and meatballs -- always a winner. This post makes me hungry for them, and it's only 7am! Thanks for the good idea, I know what we'll have for dinner tonight!

    I have a meatball recipe from my brother's university friend's cousin's Sicilian grandmother. It's the prized page in my recipe book, and I'm under strict orders not to divulge it to anyone, or they'll break-a my legs-a. If my house ever burns down, that recipe book is coming out with me! lol!

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