Meatballs and Marinara
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS Meatballs and marinara sauce are the epitome of comfort food, except when you’re
the cook. Frying the meatballs can be messy and take a good chunk of time when working
in batches. For an easier method, we turned to the oven and roasted our meatballs
at a high temperature, which ensured they developed a nice, browned crust. To keep
our meatballs moist and tender, we added a panade (a paste of milk and bread). In
addition to ground beef, using Italian sausage for the pork gave the meatballs a flavor
boost, as did simmering them in the sauce after baking. See the sidebar that follows the recipe.
SERVES 8
To keep the recipe easy and streamlined, the meatballs and sauce start with the same onion mixture. This recipe makes enough to sauce 2 pounds of pasta.
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ONION MIXTURE |
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¼ |
cup olive oil |
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3 |
onions, chopped fine |
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8 |
garlic cloves, minced |
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1 |
tablespoon dried oregano |
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¾ |
teaspoon red pepper flakes |
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MARINARA |
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1 |
(6-ounce) can tomato paste |
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1 |
cup dry red wine |
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1 |
cup water |
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4 |
(28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes |
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1 |
ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (½ cup) |
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¼ |
cup chopped fresh basil |
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Salt |
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1–2 |
teaspoons sugar |
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MEATBALLS |
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4 |
slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into pieces |
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¾ |
cup milk |
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8 |
ounces sweet Italian sausage, casings removed |
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2 |
ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1 cup) |
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½ |
cup chopped fresh parsley |
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2 |
large eggs |
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2 |
garlic cloves, minced |
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1½ |
teaspoons salt |
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2½ |
pounds 80 percent lean ground chuck |
1. FOR THE ONION MIXTURE: Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook onions until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer half of onion mixture to large bowl and set aside.
2. FOR THE MARINARA: Add tomato paste to remaining onion mixture in pot and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in water and tomatoes and simmer over low heat until sauce is no longer watery, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir in Parmesan and basil and season with salt and sugar to taste.
3. FOR THE MEATBALLS: Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Add bread and milk to bowl with reserved onion mixture and mash together until smooth. Add sausage, Parmesan, parsley, eggs, garlic, and salt to bowl and mash to combine. Add beef and knead with hands until well combined. Lightly shape mixture into 2½-inch round meatballs (about 16 meatballs total), place on rimmed baking sheet, and bake until well browned, about 20 minutes.
4. Transfer meatballs to pot with sauce and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve. (Meatballs and marinara can be frozen for up to 1 month.)