Soft meatballs in tomato sauce, made with beef, my favorite. Today’s recipe is grandma’s for perfect meatballs in sauce without pre-frying, making them lighter, without breadcrumbs, making them very soft, and they are also milk-free. That’s because the mixture of these meatballs is the classic Calabrian meatball mix, with garlic, parsley, eggs, stale bread soaked in water, and a mix of grated pecorino and parmesan that gives a really special taste to the meatballs and sauce. If you prefer, they can also be made spicy. Meatballs in sauce are an excellent one-dish meal, but also delightful as a second course, and the sauce can also be used to dress pasta. So I would say to try them right away, and thus I leave you with my detailed step-by-step recipe to make truly perfect, tasty, and soft meatballs in sauce, a pleasure just like grandma’s.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 12 meatballs
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for meatballs in sauce
- 14 oz Beef (or mixed with ground pork)
- 2 Eggs
- 3 slices Stale bread
- 1 tbsp Pecorino (grated)
- 2 tbsps Grana Padano (grated)
- to taste Parsley
- to taste Optional black pepper
- to taste Salt
- 1 clove Garlic
- 14 oz Tomato sauce
- 1 Red Tropea onion
- to taste Olive oil
- to taste Salt
- to taste Basil
- to taste Chili pepper
- to taste Water
Tools for preparing meatballs in sauce
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Pan
- 1 Lid
- 1 Kitchen spatula
- 1 Tray
Preparation of soft meatballs in sauce
First of all, soak the bread for the meatballs, then we focus on the tomato sauce.
Let’s start by preparing the tomato sauce, the salsa where our delicious meatballs will cook. Take a wide-bottomed pan, about 9.5 to 10 inches in diameter. Begin by pouring some olive oil, add the chopped onion, and a whole chili pepper or chopped if you want to make it spicy. Sauté the onion a little over low heat, then add the tomato sauce, dilute with a bit of water if the tomato sauce is too thick. Add a pinch of salt, and cook over low heat with a lid.
Meanwhile, as the sauce comes to a boil, we prepare the meatballs.
Squeeze the bread well, crumble it in a bowl, add the meat, chopped garlic, chopped parsley, salt, eggs, and grated cheeses. If you don’t like garlic, use less or remove it entirely, as I’ve noticed the flavor in meatballs in sauce is accentuated.Work the meatball mixture with your hands, forming nice compact round balls. As soon as the sauce starts boiling, add a bit of basil and place the meatballs inside, not one on top of the other, please. Set it on low heat, with a lid, and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Do not stir the sauce with a ladle while it cooks, but if it doesn’t cover the meatballs, after 10 minutes turn them gently with a spatula, being careful not to break them. If you want to stir, just shake the pan, but if you use a shallow pot like mine, it isn’t necessary, just turn them halfway through cooking. Cook for another 10 minutes or so.
In about 20 minutes, the meatballs are ready, and the sauce is excellent for dressing pasta, although, to be honest, I can’t serve pasta without two meatballs on the same plate.
If you want them even more compact and flavorful, you can also fry them a little beforehand. I usually do this when preparing small meatballs to put in lasagna, the famous Calabrian lasagna.
