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Adapted very slightly from Rao's Cookbook by Frank Pellegrino
Serves 6
30 minutes preparation time
1 hour cooking time
For the marinara sauce
2 28-ounce cans imported Italian plum tomatoes with basil (preferably those labeled “san marzano”)
¼ cup fine-quality olive oil
3 tablespoons minced onion
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
salt to taste
6 leaves fresh basil, torn
pinch dried oregano
pepper to taste
For the meatballs
1 pound ground lean beef
½ pound ground veal
½ pound ground pork
2 large eggs
1 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
1 ½ tablespoons chopped parsley
2 cups fresh bread crumbs*
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup lukewarm water
1 cup fine-quality olive oil
1 pound spaghetti, optional
First, make the tomato sauce. Place the tomatoes and their juice in a large bowl. Using your hands, carefully crush the tomatoes. To prevent major spills, gently remove and disard the hard core from the stem end and remove and discard any skin and tough membrane. Set aside.
Put oil in a large, non reactive saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes or until translucent and just beginning to brown. Stir in the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until just softened. Stir in the tomatoes with their sauce and add the salt. Raise the heat, and bring the sauce to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to a very low simmer and cook for at least one hour. If you prefer a thicker sauce cook for another 15 minutes or even another hour.
Stir in the basil, oregano, and pepper and cook for an additional minute.
While the sauce is cooking, make the meatballs. Combine the beef, veal and pork in a large bowl. Add the eggs, cheese, parsley, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Using your hands, blend the ingredients together. Mix the bread crumbs into the meat mixture. Slowly add water until the mixture is moist.
Shape the meat mixture into balls (usually 2 ½ to 3 inch balls). Heat the oil in a large sauté pan. When the oil is very hot but not smoking, fry the meatballs in batches. When the bottom half of each meatball is very brown and slightly crisp turn it and cook the top half. Remove the meatballs from the heat and drain them on paper towels.
Lower the cooked meatballs into the simmering marinara sauce and cook for at least 15 minutes. Serve over pasta or on their own.
*My favorite way to make fresh bread crumbs is to buy a loaf of wheat, white or sourdough bread, cut off the outside, and then just put all the inside bits into the food processor for a minute or two. Any extras can be kept in the freezer.