Tag: meatballs

Meatballs stuffed with mozzarella

Meatballs (plain or stuffed with mozzarella)

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Contrary to what Americans (USA) think, spaghetti and meatballs are usually not served together in Italy, but rather the pasta is eaten first, then the meat.

I usually make meatballs in tomato sauce and either serve them together with pasta or make meatball parmesan sandwiches with Italian bread. This recipe uses bread crumbs but I sometimes use 1 or 2 slices of white bread, broken up into little pieces, instead. My mother used to add small pieces of butter or margarine to the meat which made the meatballs really tender and quite tasty, but I leave it out because it can make them a little greasy.

I like to make the meatballs stuffed with little cubes of mozzarella but you can leave that part out if you’d like. You can also bake or fry the meatballs and serve as appetizers.

Makes about 12 medium sized meatballs

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef, or 1/2 lb ground beef and 1/2 lb ground pork, or 1/3 lb beef 1/3 lb pork 1/3 lb veal
1/4 tsp salt or according to taste
1/4 small onion, minced
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 T dried parsley (more if using fresh minced parsley)
1 large egg
2 T bread crumbs (seasoned or unseasoned)
mozzarella, small cubes

  1. in a large bowl, combine ground beef, salt, onion, garlic powder, parsley, and egg.
  2. add the bread crumbs and mix well.
  3. grab a small amount of mixture and roll into a ball (about the size of a golf ball). Make an indentation with your thumb and press a small cube of mozzarella in it then cover up the mozzarella.
  4. add to tomato sauce and cook until done.

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Tomato Sauce

Tomato Sauce (Pasta Sauce)

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Tomato sauce (pasta sauce, or some people call it gravy) is considered to be one of the five “mother sauces” that all cooks should know how to make, along with béchamel, velouté, hollandaise, and espagnole. If you can make these sauces, you can make any variations of them for every type of cuisine.

I like to use fresh herbs when they’re available but you can use dried herbs also. Just remember that dried herbs have a more concentrated and powerful flavor and so the quantities need to be adjusted (use more fresh herbs, less dried herbs). I add them in the beginning so that the sauce absorbs their flavors as it simmers.

I make either marinara, which is plain tomato sauce, ragù, which is a meat sauce (add meatballs, chicken pieces or sausages), or seafood (puttanesca, zuppa di pesce, etc.), depending on what we feel like eating.

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Ingredients
2 cans tomato puree or crushed tomatoes (non-GMO if you can find it)
1 T olive oil
2 small garlic cloves, smashed and sliced
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp ground dried sage
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil or 3 fresh basil leaves
1 T fresh chopped parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 chicken bouillon cube
a splash of red wine
salt (if needed)

  1. add olive oil to the pot and sauté the garlic cloves.
  2. add the rosemary and continue to sauté (this will give it a stronger taste which I love!).
  3. add the cans of tomatoes and stir.
  4. add the herbs, and onion and garlic powders, stir.
  5. add the bouillon cube and stir to dissolve.
  6. add a splash of red wine, stir.
  7. simmer for about an hour. Add salt if it needs more. If it gets too thick, add a little bit of water or wine.

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