Making meatballs in tomato sauce is very simple and quite quick. You need a bowl where we will put the meat, the stale bread, garlic, some spices, mix everything, form the meatballs, and then cook them directly in the tomato sauce. The final result will be meatballs so tender and succulent that our guests will squabble over who gets the last meatball!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 5 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 340.73 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 15.53 (g) of which sugars 5.90 (g)
- Proteins 20.99 (g)
- Fat 20.54 (g) of which saturated 4.56 (g)of which unsaturated 5.80 (g)
- Fibers 3.38 (g)
- Sodium 1,419.92 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 10 oz ground beef
- 4 cups tomato sauce
- Half golden onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 leaves bay
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 leaves sage
- 1 glass dry white wine
- 2.82 oz bread
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsps pecorino romano
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
Tools
- 1 Terracotta Pot
- 1 Basin
Steps
To make the meatballs in tomato sauce, you first need to soak some bread to give consistency to the dough itself. Both fresh and stale bread can be used.
To start, we need to soak the bread and instead of using water as we are used to, we use dry white wine to give more flavor to the meatballs and enhance their taste.
Simply now, with hands, mix the bread with the wine to make it all a mush.
Then it’s important to carefully choose the material, which in this case is prime quality beef.
After soaking the bread and adding the meat, we begin to flavor it all with spices and black pepper.
Following this, very little salt since we will make the meatballs tasty with spices and pecorino cheese.
For example, if you like, add nutmeg, or alternatively, don’t hesitate to use other spices of your choice.
Garlic goes well with everything, especially with meatballs, whether finely chopped fresh or in powder form.
Add more white wine since it truly highlights the flavor of the meatballs.
Mix everything to combine the ingredients and obtain a homogeneous mixture ready to form into meatballs.
With wet hands to prevent the mixture from sticking, take a little at a time and start creating the meatballs.
We choose to make them small if we use them for an appetizer or slightly larger if we want to serve them as a main course.
Then, let them rest for about ten minutes.
Although the sauce is only to accompany the meatballs, nothing excludes the choice of high-quality ingredients for a perfect, succulent, and genuine sauce.
Carefully choose a golden onion finely chopped into cubes.
To stay in line with the flavor of the meatballs, also for sautéing the onion, I use the same white wine I used to knead the meatballs.
Therefore, I take a clove of garlic and a mix of spices to flavor the fake sauté without using excessive salt.
Once done, remove all the spices.
Now add plenty of tomato sauce.
I’m a fan of tomato paste, and I add one or two tablespoons to enhance the flavor of the sauce. (optional step.)
Let the sauce cook for 10 minutes to thicken slightly, and carefully add the meatballs, one by one.
In conclusion, stirring them often with a wooden spoon, let the meatballs cook slowly in the tomato sauce for 30 minutes to have a rich and well-thickened sauce.
Finally, once they are ready, remove them from the sauce and let them cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Just add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil before serving.
Enjoy your meal from Dadcook!
We can use the tomato sauce in which the meatballs were cooked to season any type of pasta, thus having a good first course to serve together with the meatballs.
