Oven-Roasted Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

I love homemade meatballs. Up until now, I did not love making them. Seeing my perfectly formed spheres of meat become uneven and broken during the searing process was so disheartening- not to mention the time it took to make a decent batch.  Meatballs were out of the question on a weeknight… until I found this recipe. The chefs who came up with this recipe managed to make a tender, delicious meatball that can be roasted in the oven and an excellent marinara sauce to serve them with.

 

Before you dive into meatball making, go ahead and get the sauce going. You’ll notice in the recipe that it says “two 28oz cans of whole plum tomatoes, chopped with their liquid”. To save yourself the mess of chopping canned tomatoes, instead, pour the tomatoes into a mesh strainer that’s been placed over a bowl. From here, you can let the tomato juice strain and then chop the tomatoes, or you can break up the tomatoes in the strainer with the edge of a spoon (the later method will give you a slightly more chunky sauce).

 

Once you’ve finished building the sauce, leave it simmering while you make the meatballs.

For the meatballs, first measure all of the ingredients into a bowl, and then it’s time to get down and dirty. Yes, you need to use your hands for this. Using a spoon to mix the meat and other ingredients will take you twice as long and yield less consistent meatballs. Take off any loose jewelry, dig your hands in, and start squeezing and mixing the ingredients until the mixture is uniform. If all of your ingredients are fresh from the refrigerator, your hands might get a bit clammy and cold – just take a break every so often to avoid this.

 

Once you’ve made all of your meatballs, stick them in the oven. While they’re roasting, it’s a great time to do some dishes or make a quick side dish to serve the meatballs with.

 

The meatballs should be nice and brown when you take them out of the oven. Use a ladle to evenly pour the tomato sauce over the meatballs. You might not need to use all of the tomato sauce, depending on the depth of you baking dish. If you have leftover sauce, leave it off to the side for others to help themselves to if they like their meatballs “extra saucy” or pour it into an airtight container to save for later.

After you’ve roasted the meatballs a second time in the tomato sauce, they are finished! I love serving these meatballs with toasted hoagie rolls brushed with garlic butter, as a sort of open-faced sandwich. You could also cook up a big pot of spaghetti for traditional spaghetti and meatballs.

 

 

Oven-Roasted Beef Meatballs [Makes about 2 dozen 1 ½-inch balls]

 

Ingredients:

 

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

·         2 pounds 80% lean ground beef

·         1 cup ricotta cheese

·         2 large eggs

·         1/2 cup bread crumbs

·         1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

·         1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried

·         2 teaspoons salt

·         1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·         1/2 teaspoon ground fennel (optional)

·         4 cups Classic Tomato Sauce (recipe below)

Directions:

 

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Drizzle the olive oil into a 9×13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface. Set aside.

 

Combine the ground beef, ricotta, eggs, bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes, and fennel in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.

 

Roll the mixture into round, golf ball-size meatballs (about 1 1/2 inches), making sure to pack the meat firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching one another.

 

Roast for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through. A meat thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball should read 165°F.

 

While the meatballs are roasting, heat the tomato sauce in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring often.

 

When the meatballs are firm and fully cooked, remove them from the oven and drain the excess grease from the pan. Pour the tomato sauce over them. Return the meatballs to the oven and continue roasting for another 15 minutes.

Classic Tomato Sauce [Makes 7 cups]

 

Ingredients:

 

·         1/4 cup olive oil

·         1 onion, finely diced

·         1 bay leaf

·         1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried

·         2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

·         2 teaspoons salt or to taste

·         2 tablespoons tomato paste

·         Two 28-ounce cans whole plum tomatoes, chopped with their liquid

Directions:

 

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, bay leaf, oregano, garlic, and salt and cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

 

Add the tomato paste and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir constantly until the sauce begins to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 5 minutes or so to prevent the sauce on the bottom of the pot from burning. Taste and season with additional salt, if desired. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

 

Recipe from Epicurious