What do crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, garlic, basil, salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper all have in common? They are DELICIOUS when paired with Italian Meatballs.
For this week's challenge, we decided to tackle making Italian Meatballs with homemade tomato sauce. It might seem challenging, but it is actually so easy! When we have days off, or a lazy Sunday afternoon, I like to make this meal and have tried all sorts of different methods. This past summer, I found the easiest and yummiest version and this is what I taught Grant to make.
I always thought it would take herculean effort to make my own delicious tomato sauce, but the way I've started to make it has really changed my mind! As usual, we are using an adapted recipe to create our meal. For inspiration, we looked at the recipe in the cookbook we found this summer (and which I highly recommend!) and then decided to change it up slightly and make it our own.
One tip I found is to make the sauce in a crockpot. This makes all the difference between simmering and scorching the sauce. Even on the lowest settings on my stovetop, my sauce somehow slightly scorched. But once I started making it in the crockpot, problem solved!
Grant began by measuring 1/2 cup of olive oil into a small saucepan. He tore off 10 or so basil leaves and washed them off by running them under water. Then he dried them on a paper towel and tore them into smaller pieces. He added them to the olive oil and then added 3 cloves or crushed garlic. He remembered the tip I had taught him to smash the cloves with the knife to easily peel the cloves. I was impressed! Next he added 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.
He heated the oil mixture on low heat on the stove and let it cook for about 10 minutes. The kitchen smelled AMAZING. While it was simmering, into the crockpot he added 3 cans of crushed tomatoes, 2 TBSP of tomato paste (I like to buy it in a tube as it is so easy to use just the amount you need without wasting it), a tablespoon or so of salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
Once the oil finished cooking, he added it to the sauce by straining all the bits of basil, red pepper, and garlic out. (I use this type of mesh strainer all the time. I have a few different sizes and think they are perfect for so many types of cooking needs. Anything from straining puddings to make them free of lumps, straining veggies, rinsing beans...so many uses!)
Grant stirred the sauce and set the crockpot to low to cook for an hour or so before we got ready to make the meatballs. I do want to mention that many recipes call for a bit of sugar added to the sauce. I sometimes do this, but I don't add a lot. Grant chose to not add any, but if you wanted to, a tablespoon would be plenty in my opinion. I think it sometimes balances out the acidity. When you are the cook, you get to make things the way you like them!
Oh, and if you missed it before, the kitchen smelled AMAZING!
Sauce done, Meatballs next!
After we made the sauce and let it cook for a bit, it was time to mix up the meatballs. Before we even began, Grant let me know that he was NOT going to use his hands to mix the meat. He may have been scarred by the cold from our last recipe (chicken patties). LOL
When making meatballs, I don't get too worked up about the type of meat I use. I use what I have! A lot of recipes call for a combination of meats - ground beef, ground veal, ground pork - but if I don't have it or don't want to use it, I just adjust. I'm teaching Grant to do the same. We used what we had - and the meatballs turned out great!
The recipe also calls for adding 1/2 cup of the sauce we made to the meatball mixture, and at first I couldn't figure out why – they were going to cook in it – so why add it inside, too? Well, what I've found is – it works! The extra tomato flavor in the meatballs and the softness of them cooked in the sauce is totally worth any effort involved in getting them made.
Grant placed the ground meat, italian bread crumbs, grated cheese, eggs, milk, and tomato sauce into a bowl and added salt and pepper. He mixed everything together with a spoon (ha! Yep. He was NOT going to touch it with his hands!).
While Grant thought he had gotten out of touching the mixture, he was wrong! And he was not impressed. I showed him how to use a medium sized ice-cream scoop to form the meatballs so they can be the same size but then told him he needed to roll them into balls. He complained a bit, but then got after it.
Grant was on a roll but then decided to get creative! His cousin and he decided that using the ice-cream scoop and rolling them was not the best way. Out came the cookie cutters. So you can picture it, I'm standing there shaking my head which is only spurring them on! Grant decided to make a snowman meatball. We did cook it, but he did decide using a cookie cutter was not actually a "better" idea!
Once all the meatballs were formed, Grant began adding them to the crockpot of sauce. He put in one layer and then we poked them down gently with a spoon and added another layer. As you'd imagine, we put the "snowman" in last.
Once all the meatballs were added, we put the cover on and cooked them on high for about 2 hours more. We could have cooked it for less, but we had an appointment and had to leave for a bit. After seeing the snowman, we pushed him into the sauce so he'd be covered, too. We boiled some spaghetti and enjoyed a delicious dinner when we returned!
While this recipe was a bit more time intensive, it was super easy and delicious. Grant has really added several skills to his cooking ability and I can see his confidence in himself growing where cooking is involved. He is making it fun for himself, too, with the addition of silliness like making a snowman meatball. Makes me think he'll be a great dad one day. But that is FAR AWAY!! We've got to get into and through college first - and meet whoever will capture his heart!
We adapted this recipe from the cookbook we used when we made Beef Bulgogi. I highly recommend it if you want to try recipes that are authentic from different places and cuisines in our world. If you want to use the authentic recipe - try theirs! But if you want to try what we did - here you go! (By the way, if you make any of Grant's recipes, we'd love for you to let us know!)
Italian Meatballs and Homemade Sauce
Sauce:
3 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
10 basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
3 garlic cloves - crushed
2 TBSP tomato paste
3-4 tsp. salt (a little less than a whole tablespoon)
Meatballs:
2 pounds of ground beef
1 cup of italian bread crumbs
1 cup of grated romano, parmesan, and pecorino cheese
2 eggs
1 scant TBSP salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tomato sauce
To make the sauce: Heat the olive oil, washed and torn basil leaves, crushed red pepper, and garlic cloves over low heat for about 10 minutes. Place crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and heated oil (after draining out the basil, garlic, and crushed red pepper) in a crockpot. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Cook on low heat for 1 - 2 hours.
To make the meatballs: Mix together ground meat, italian bread crumbs, grated cheese, eggs, salt, black pepper, milk, and tomato sauce you just finished. Roll into even sized meatballs. Place in the crockpot full of sauce, shaking the pot or pushing meatballs into sauce carefully so you can add them all. Cook over high heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in sauce. Make pasta of your choice and enjoy with your meatballs and sauce!
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