‘Classico’ Italian Meatballs
These meatballs are so good you can eat them for days (quite literally)!
Complementing your favourite pasta dish, this recipe makes enough for a tower of meatballs, which I recommend serving on a single plate as the centre piece to your dining table, for everyone to share.
If you’re lucky, any meatballs left over make divine meatball subs for lunch the next day.
Equipment
30cm base sauce pot, with lid
Good chopping knife
Wooden spoon
Cheese grater (if you don’t have pre-grated cheese)
Big mixing bowl
Ingredients
Use the best ingredients you can find. It makes a difference. If you have a garden and can source any of the ingredients yourself, I highly recommend it! Everything from your garden will elevate the quality of your meal and is a sustainable way of living.
Meatballs
500g of mince meat (a mixture of pork and beef/veal)
1x cup of breadcrumbs (finely ground)
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
4x big cloves of garlic (otherwise use more if they are small)
Fresh parsley (about a full cup of flat leaf parsley)
1x egg
Salt and pepper
Red sauce
Olive oil (regular, not virgin)
1x brown onion
1x carrot (we’ll use half)
1x celery stick (we’ll use same amount as the carrot)
4x garlic cloves
3x cans of tomatoes (1x 400g whole peeled, 2x 400g diced - Italian tomatoes if possible)
1x tablespoon of tomato paste
1/4 cup of red wine
Fresh basil (bunch)
Salt and pepper
Method
Overview
We are going to make a red sauce first, then the meatballs and then poach the meatballs in the red sauce. You will end up with a sauce that is absolutely delicious for your pasta dish and tender meatballs to serve on the side.
Prepare the sauce first
Chop the onion into small, even pieces.
Pour olive oil into the pot so it reaches the edges. Heat oil on high before throwing in the onion.
Chop the carrot and celery into small, even pieces. Pop these in the pot too. Mix ingredients to coat with the oil and put on medium heat.
While this is creating a nice aroma, chop the garlic into small, even pieces, and add to the pot after about 5-10 minutes. We add the garlic a bit later so the other veggies have time to soften and we don't burn the garlic. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
Empty the tomato cans into the pot. With the whole peeled tomatoes, pour into your hand and give the tomatoes a good squish. Be careful where you aim! It can get messy! I usually add a bit of water into the tins, swirl it around to get the last of the sauce from the edges before adding to the pot. It’s good to have a bit more liquid. Give the pot a stir at this point.
Look at the edges of the pot. You should see oil coating the edges and some glazes in the centre. If you don’t see this - you haven’t got enough oil. Just add a bit more and give the pot a good stir. (Note: getting the right amount of oil is the secrete to a good Italian tomato-based sauce).
Add the tomato paste and the wine. Give the pot a good stir to incorporate well.
Throw in the basil! If it’s on a stem, you can leave it on.
Put the lid on ajar, with a slight gap for air. Turn the heat down to a level where the sauce is quietly and gently bubbling. It shouldn’t be raging with bubbles and it needs to be more than just heating up.
Add salt and pepper (to taste) just before adding in the meatballs. In the meantime, take your time preparing the meatballs in the next step.
Prepare the meatballs next
Start by emptying the mince meat into your large bowl.
Add the breadcrumbs.
Grate the cheese if you need to, then add to the bowl.
Chop the garlic as fine as you can. Add to the bowl.
Chop the parsley as fine as you can. Add to the bowl.
Add the egg.
Coat everything in the bowl with a layer of salt and pepper.
Pop the egg yolk and mix all ingredients with your fingers. You don’t want to squish the meat, just just want to incorporate everything evenly.
Now we form the meatballs. Take a pinch and roll the meat with the palms of your hands to form a rough ball. Compress the meat in one hand by gently squeezing a few times, so the form of the ball holds together. Roll with both of your palms to end up with a meatball slightly smaller than the size of a golf ball. Put to the size once done.
Repeat for the remaining mixture in the bowl. Depending on the actual size you make, you should end up with roughly 12 meatballs. It’s ok if you end up with slightly more or less. Just go with it. What’s important is that they are all evenly sized. The more even the meatballs are with each other, the more evenly they will cook when they are in the pot together.
Poaching the meatballs
Turn the heat up on your sauce to bring it to a raging boil.
Remove the lid. It’s time to drop in the meatballs. We’ll want to do this swiftly, so the meatballs cook evenly.
Start by dropping the first meatball right in the centre of the pot. Then, work your way around in a spiral fashion, dropping one meatball in at a time. It’s important that you don’t overlay the meatballs on top of each other.
Once all meatballs are in the pot, you will notice that the sauce is not raging with bubbles any longer. This is because the temperature of the meatballs brings the temperature of the sauce down.
With a spoon, gently submerge any meatballs that need to be fully immersed in the sauce. If the top is poking out a little, don’t stress, you can rotate them later.
Put the lid on and cook for 5 minutes.
Now, you can drop the temperature down to a simmer and cook for a further 15-20 minutes.
If the meatballs were not fully submerged originally, then this is a good time to gently rotate them with a spoon and cook for a couple additional minutes. Be careful not to break them apart in the process - they are tender!
Turn the heat off and using a spoon, take the meatballs out one by one and put them on a serving plate or bowl. Stack the meatballs for dramatic affect and to wow your dinner guests!
Your sauce and meatballs are now ready to serve with your favourite pasta for your favourite people.
Pro tip!
Once you’ve cooked your pasta, drain it and keep a bit of the water you cooked the pasta in (about a quarter of a cup). Put the pasta back in the pot with the water and then put 2-3 ladles of the pasta sauce in the pot and give it a good stir. This distributes the sauce right through the pasta. You can even add a little more grated cheese at this stage. Serve in your favourite dish with a little more sauce on the top, more cheese and a couple of basil leaves. Enjoy!