Sunday dinner, Pasta with San Marzano Tomato Basil Sauce and Neapolitan Style Meatballs. 👍❤️🇮🇹🍝
Recipe:
San Marzano Tomato Basil Sauce
1 large yellow onion
Evoo
2 tablespoons imported Italian tomato paste
2 cans San Marzano Tomatoes, hand crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup fresh basil leaves
Sweat the chopped onion in a stock pot with evoo. Add salt and pepper.
Add tomato paste over the heat as onions are simmering. Allow to mix and cook a couple minutes.
Add crushed tomatoes, rinse out cans, add splash of water from the cans, add basil leaves into the sauce, stir, add salt and pepper to taste, let cook medium heat stirring as needed for about 20 minutes. Lower heat to medium/low and let simmer at least an hour and a half before serving, stir as needed.
Enough sauce for two meals, up to 1 pound pasta per meal (1 lb. pasta serves 4)
Meatballs (makes approx 15 2-ounce balls)
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
3 eggs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 cup pecorino Romano grated
1 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 teaspoons salt
20 twists black pepper
Evoo to fry them ***(for lower calorie preparation, roll the meatballs and poach directly in the simmering sauce for at least 30 minutes. Recipe featured in “The Restaurant Diet” book one).
Combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl, letting air in, want amalgamated but not overly worked. Roll into balls by hand.
Heat evoo and cook meatballs until medium brown/slightly crunchy. Drain onto paper towels. Serve immediately with sauce and al dente pasta or you may add to the simmering sauce to cook some more. They are great right out of the pan, medium rare center and hot, crispy exterior. Adding some to the sauce adds flavor to the tomato basil sauce.
The meatballs are great with some cool ricotta and some additional grated pecorino or Parmigiano cheese.
Note: I like the all beef for eating out of the pan, you can enjoy medium rare, which you couldn’t if they contained pork. You can use the same basic recipe and include veal, beef, pork combination, or ground turkey or chicken. For vegetarian, try roasting several large eggplants, 350 oven 40 minutes, let cool, scoop out middle, and use that in place of the meat.
Buon Appetito!
