the best Italian meatballs & tomato sauce

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I love meatballs and am always trying to find the best recipe for them. I think I may have come up with my BEST meatball recipe to date.

The special flavor for my tomato sauce comes from adding my fabulous meatballs and a mix of Italian sausage (hot and sweet) that slow cooks in a simple sauce made of crushed tomatoes, sauteed onion, and garlic, a bit of red wine, and bay leaves. This is slow-cooked for 2-3 hours which creates a thick, rich sauce with flavors that make you want to lick every drop of sauce from your dish. I tend to cook a large potful of sauce so I can relish it throughout the week on one or two other dishes, or freeze it for later use.

And now for the meatballs. These are made with equal parts pork, lamb and beef chopped meat, 2 links of hot Italian sausage (I just love my hot stuff), bread crumbs, chopped parsley, parmesan cheese and pine nuts. I added a good dash of D’Artagnan porcini mushroom powder I had on hand, but that is purely optional. This recipe was a big hit in my home, which made my day. I love seeing happy faces when I serve a meal. I served the tomato sauce, meatballs and sausage with a tray of lasagne, and it all disappeared so fast! I would love to hear what you think if you have the chance to try this recipe. Note: The secret to great meatballs is to handle them as little as
possible, light mixing ingredients together and lightly patting into
round balls.

The Best Meatballs & Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
Tomato Sauce

  • 1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/8 cup of red wine
  • 3 bay leaves

Meatballs

  • 3/4 pound each of chopped pork, lamb and beef
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 links of hot Italian
    sausage- casting removed, crumble sausage
  • 1 cup of bread crumbs
  • 1/4 chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
  • 1/8 cup pine nuts, toasted
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Tomato Sauce

  1. Add onion to a large pot with olive oil and sautee until translucent.
  2. Add garlic and cook for two minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, red wine and bay leaves
  3. Cover and cook under low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally
  4. Add meatballs after you prepare (see directions below)

Meatballs

  1. In an ungreased small skillet, toast pine nuts
  2. In a large mixing bowl add chopped pork, lamb, and beef, hot sausage, bread crumbs, 2 eggs, parsley, Parmesan cheese and pine nuts, lightly mixing together to blend ingredients
  3. Shape the meatballs into 2 inch balls and set aside
  4. In a large skillet, add olive oil and heat up over medium high heat. Lower to medium and slowly cook meatballs to evenly brown all sides.
  5. When cooked, place on paper towel to drain oil and place in pot with tomato sauce

Serve with your favorite pasta or spaghetti and a bottle of red wine. Enjoy!