3 hour meatballs

Ok, last recipe for the week. Promise. Now technically the name for this recipe is Italian meatballs. But I’m calling these 3 hours meatballs because that is how long you need to set aside to make these babies. Definitely a weekend meal but so worth it. I can honestly say that this was the best pasta sauce I’ve ever had and if I had an italian nonna (and I don’t! I have a scottish grandma and an australian nana) then I’m sure she’d be proud. All the kids including elodie loved these, retro daddy just liked them and I adored them and couldn’t stop eating them. The other great thing about this recipe is that I got 2 dinners out of it. We ate ours with salad and crusty bread and the next night I reheated the sauce, added some grated cheese and mixed in spaghetti. So good.

This recipe comes from Monday Morning Cooking Club but I made some changes because I thought 5 onions in one dish was a bit too much!!!!!

meatballs

1kg mince

1 onion, finely chopped

2 eggs, beaten

2 slices bread made into breadcrumbs

1/4 cup water

1 bunch flat leaf parsley (or use whatever herb you have going, basil would be delicious)

sauce

about 17 roma/plum tomatoes (make sure they’re ripe)
10 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 1/2 cups white wine (optional, replace with stock if you prefer)
3 cups stock ( I used chicken)

OK, first we’re going to make the sauce. Wash and halve the tomatoes and lay cut side up in a roasting dish, add in the peeled garlic cloves, pour over 1/4 cup olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and roast in 160 degree oven for 1 hours. I moved my tomatoes around a couple of times during the hour to make sure they were all cooking.

Now in a large bowl combine your mince, parsley, onion and eggs. Make the breadcrumbs from bread and soak in the water for a few minutes. Add into mince mixture, season well and set aside while you make the sauce.

In a large saucepan cook the coarsely chopped onion in olive oil until soft. Add in the raoasted tomatoes and garlic. Add in wine and bring to boil for about 5 minutes. Add in the stock then simmer for 1 hour. Now puree your sauce with a hand stick blender or food processor. I did mine in 2 batches in the thermomix on speed 5 until completely pureed. Return the pureed sauce back to the saucepan, bring to the boil again and then simmer for 10 minutes. You want to stir it a few times. Season really well (trust me you can’t stop eating the sauce by this time).

Now your sauce is ready for meatballs. So wet your hands and roll your mince into little meatballs about the size of a walnut. You don’t want them too big. Drop them into the tomato sauce (carefully!) and bring the sauce back to the boil. Now cover the saucepan and simmer for about 30 minutes. Check that the meatballs are cooked through and serve with salad and crusty bread or spaghetti with lots of cheese.

And this is what you end up. Very delicious homemade meatballs in a rich tomato sauce. I loved it with a simple salad and the crusty bread. The bread soaking up all that delicious sauce is to die for and is my preferred way to eat it whereas the kids preferred theirs with pasta. Either way I promise that you will not be disappointed and I’ll definitely be making this again soon.