Posted on 03/16/2015 12:04:27 PM PDT by ken5050
MARINARA SAUCE has no meat. I use tomatoes with no additives, lots of basil and some fresh oregano and parm cheese. 5 large cans of tomatoes; chopped and whole.
Meat balls: I used the above basic sauce for the meat ball sauce.
Two pounds of very low fat ground beef
one heart of celery, leafs and all finely chopped
one medium onion finely chopped
1/2 cup parm cheese
5 slices of bread soaked in milk
four tablespoons fresh oregano and basil chopped fine
five cloves of garlic chopped fine
One teaspoon of salt and lots of ground black pepper
Smooch it up with your hands and then roll into balls. Fry, browning outside of meatballs, and gently drop them into a big pot with the sauce (above) in it. Use plenty of olive oil for browning so the meat balls don’t stick. You should have enough sauce to cover the meatballs. Don’t disturb too much until meatballs are cooked because they are melt in your mouth soft. Even then turn/stir easy. Freeze leftover meatballs with a little sauce for future hoagies.
Let the sauce cook for hours (at least three). Put the lid on if sauce is thickening too much. Make sure it does not stick on bottom and burn by moving around the contents of pot frequently. After the sauce heats up, turn on low and let it simmer.
How BIG????
Celery is interesting..but would detract from the fennell....you’re almost doing a soffrito...
I don’t use fennel because I don’t care for it. The meatballs are not as soft as to fall apart and make a soffrito base. But I like the meat balls to melt in my mouth and not be hard and chewy.
Big is subjective, and dependent on attended need.. A Meatball sandwich could require a bit larger meatball, than an accompaniment to pasta, or other food. I have made them as small as marbles for young kids..
Thank you dear girl.. I have many different sauces that can compliment this recipe, let me know if you have a preference..
Turned out to be a fun thread...
The first “meat balls” I ever had as a kid in the midwest were the real thing - mountain oysters.
Preference? Yes! My Gram Firenze’s Sicilian recipe. Darn. I don’t have it. I made it once in the pot that she used. The pot and recipe were lost when moving and I haven’t made a good batch since.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.