Italian Meatballs

I have recently made a few new recipes.  Two of them by Bobby Flay – and both of them outstanding! This one is for Spaghetti and Sauce.  We LOVED the meatballs!  I will be making them again in the future – maybe even in bulk to freeze them for the future.  I did  not use veal as it is sometimes hard to find.  I doubled the recipe because we had more than 4 people eating dinner… Now I wish I had made even more!

Spaghetti and Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

adapted from Bobby Flay

Serves 8

Meatballs Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 8 cloves garlic, finely minced and sauteed
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 cup olive oil/canola oil

Homemade Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 large sweet onions, chopped
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 (28 oz) cans whole peeled tomatoes, with liquid, pureed in a food processor
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 small bunches fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper, to taste
• basil leaves for topping, optional

Instructions:

For the meatballs:

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, eggs, grated Parmesan, cooked garlic, dry bread crumbs, minced fresh parsley, salt, and pepper.  Use two large serving forks to break up the meat and mix all the ingredients until it is evenly seasoned.  Do not overwork it as it will become tough.  Form 1 to 1 1/2 inch meatballs with your hands.

Heat a non stick skillet with 1 cup of cooking oil over medium high heat.  Cook the meatballs in batches, turning them over with tongs and continue cooking until golden brown. You do not need to cook them through entirely, as you simmer them in the sauce.  Drain the meatballs on a wire rack for a few minutes while you finish cooking the remaining meatballs.

For the sauce:

In a large stock pot, cook the onions in olive oil over medium heat and cook until softened.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add processed tomatoes, bay leaf, parsley, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste.  Bring the sauce to a boil and add in the browned meatballs.  Reduce the heat to just a simmer and cook the sauce and the meatballs for 45 minutes or longer.

Serve over cooked pasta and top off with basil and additional grated Parmesan cheese.

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