When I wasn't enjoying the fine arsenal last year at my dad's house, I was hanging around the kitchen savoring his meatball sandwiches. I had the opportunity yesterday to make them here last night.
The recipe is fairly simple, relying on long, slow-cooking to blend the flavors. When my dad makes it, he'll start the meatballs and sauce the night before, letting the mixture simmer all night. The next morning, it's partitioned into gallon-sized Ziploc bags to serve in case there are a lot of people over, or ready to pop in the freezer to enjoy another time. Thus the fair warning: you'll need a very large sauce pot.
The recipe is fairly simple, relying on long, slow-cooking to blend the flavors. When my dad makes it, he'll start the meatballs and sauce the night before, letting the mixture simmer all night. The next morning, it's partitioned into gallon-sized Ziploc bags to serve in case there are a lot of people over, or ready to pop in the freezer to enjoy another time. Thus the fair warning: you'll need a very large sauce pot.
Meatballs -- source: Jim's dadThe meatballs took more time than I expected, thus it's probably best to start these before initiating the sauce. Because they're large, you'll find the exterior is nicely browned but the interior is very uncooked. Putting them in the sauce to simmer overnight will finish the cooking. One-third of the meatballs will break up from the stirring, but it works out well.
5 pounds ground round
20 slices bread, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 t oregano
1/2 C minced onions
1 t pepper
2 large eggs
- Mix all ingredients together, squeezing the mixture through your fingers ot thoroughly blend all items.
- Make meatballs about 1 ½ inch in diameter. Stack on a plate.
- Brown in a non stick pan at low-to-medium heat. The meatballs will be undercooked, so you'll want to add them to the tomato sauce (above) and cook at least four hours.
Tomato Sauce -- source: Jim's dadThe mixture freezes and reheats well.
1 #10 can of crushed, peeled tomatoes
1 12 ounce can of tomato paste
1 t oregano
1/2 t pepper
1 T chopped garlic
1/2 C chopped bell pepper
1/2 C chopped onions
1 C finely chopped mushrooms
1 C Burgundy
1/4 C sugar
- Mix all ingredients together and bring to very slow simmer.
- Simmer for six to eight hours, stirring occasionally.
I used a red bell pepper instead of the traditional green. Also, I ran the mushrooms, onion and garlic through a food processor, resulting in nicely uniform bits. This produced well over four quarts of sauce. I froze a third of the sauce by itself, using the remainder for the meatballs.
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