I’m not sure what exactly causes the craving. Perhaps it’s cooler weather, a rainy day or hearing Dean Martin on the radio (yes, you still can!). But every few weeks during autumn and winter, I simply must prepare Italian-style meatballs swimming in a rich tomato sauce.
I enjoy the process of making it, love the aromas that fill my kitchen and, of course, dig the flavours and comforting feeling I get when eating those meatballs.
My latest craving for the dish occurred last weekend, and today I thought I would share my latest recipe and offer some tips on making the meatballs and the sauce.
I’ve read and tried a lot of meatball recipes over the years. One big difference I’ve seen in Italian cookbooks is bread, and how much of it gets incorporated into the meatball mixture.
In Marcella Hazen’s timeless book, The Classic Italian Cookbook, she boils one slice of crust-free white bread in 1/3 cup of milk until softened. She then mashes it, cools it, and then mixes it into one pound of ground beef with one egg and flavourings.
In Rao’s Cookbook, filled with recipes from New York’s famed Rao’s restaurant, a generous two cups of bread crumbs, made from fresh bread allowed to dry two days, is used for the meatballs. Those bread crumbs, along with two cups of water, are blended into a seasoned meat mixture that has one pound ground beef, half pound each of ground pork and veal and two eggs.
In his book Molto Italiano, celebrity chef Mario Batali soaks three cups of day old bread in water for 20 minutes. He then squeezes out the excess moisture from the bread and mixes it into a seasoned 1 1/2-pound ground beef mixture with three eggs.
So there’s quite a variation in how much bread gets added and how it’s handled. My recipe is somewhere in between.
For example, I made my own breadcrumbs like Rao’s, but like Hazen, the liquid I used was milk. The volume of liquid to meat was similar to what Hazen used, but instead of just beef, I used of a mix of beef, pork and veal like Rao’s recipe.
Those adjustments in my recipe yielded meatballs that still had a nice meaty taste. But they were also tender, thanks in part to the addition of the bread and also by how I handled the meat mixture when mixing and then rolling it into balls.
When creating the balls, roll them as gently as you can. If you over-mix or press too hard, the meat will compact and be tough when cooked.
To ensure the meat does not stick to your hands when rolling the meatballs, first lightly moisten your hands with cold water. This creates a barrier between your hands and the meat.
Once cooked, I simmered my meatballs in marinara sauce, a classic Italian sauce where canned tomatoes are simmered and blended with garlic, onion and herbs. For the finest marinara sauce, use the best canned tomatoes you can buy, such as rich-red Italian San Marzano plum (roma) tomatoes. You can buy this type of canned tomato at Italian food stores and delis, and in the canned tomato product aisle of some supermarkets.
You can serve the meatballs over your favourite pasta or gnocchi. You could also use them to make saucy meatball sandwiches by stuffing them into submarine or panini buns with grated mozzarella or other cheese.
Tender Meatballs in Marinara Sauce
In this recipe, flavourful meatballs are simmered in a delicious, rich and tomatoey homemade marinara sauce. Serve the meatballs over pasta, gnocchi or use in saucy meatball sandwiches.
Preparation: 50 minutes
Cooking time: About 90 minutes
Makes: five to six servings (five to six meatballs each)
For the meatballs
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (see Note)
1/3 to 1/2 cup homo or two per cent milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
• pinch two crushed chili flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 lb. ground veal (see Eric’s options)
1/2 lb. ground pork
Place the bread crumbs and 1/3 cup milk in a large bowl and mix until the milk is absorbed by the bread crumbs. If the bread crumbs still look very dry, mix in a bit more milk. Mix in the eggs, oregano, basil, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Now add the beef, pork and veal and gently mix to combine.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Moisten your hands lightly with cold water. Roll the meat into 1 1/2- to 2-inch balls and set on baking sheet. You should have about 30 meatballs. Bake the meatballs for 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and add the meatballs to the marinara sauce when noted below.
For the marinara sauce and to finish
2 (28 oz/798 mL) canned whole tomatoes, such as Italian San Marzano plum (roma) tomatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, half and thinly sliced
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp dried oregano
• pinch granulated sugar
8 large fresh basil leaves, torn
• salt and freshly ground black peppe
Place the canned tomatoes and their juice in a bowl. Use your hands or a potato masher to squash and break them into smaller pieces.
Place the oil in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot set over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook until both are fragrant and light golden, about four minutes.
Add the squashed tomatoes, oregano and sugar. Bring to a slow simmer, loosely cover and simmer 30 minutes. (Don’t completely cover the sauce while simmering, as steam must be allowed to escape).
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the basil. Purée the sauce in a blender or food processor; return the sauce to the pot. Or purée the sauce right in the pot with an immersion blender. Taste the sauce, and season with salt and pepper, as needed.
Drain the fat from meatballs and add them to the sauce. Return sauce to a slow simmer, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain that simmer. Partially cover again and simmer 20 minutes, until the meatballs are rich and flavourful.
Note 1: To get the 1 1/2 cups of fresh bread crumbs needed for this recipe, I placed three regular slices of white bread, cubed, in my food processor and pulsed them until crumb-like. If you don’t have a food processor, freeze the bread slices until solid, and then use a box or other grater to finely grate them into crumbs.
Eric’s options: Ground veal and pork are sold at some supermarkets and butcher chops. If you can’t find them, you could just use ground beef in this recipe.
Eric Akis is the author of The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
