Homemade meatballs are such a great comfort food, and who can say no to delicious meatballs that have been simmering in a yummy sauce for hours? It's like having built-in potpourri! I usually make my marinara sauce from scratch, but I am a sucker for Rao's sauce. This go around, I tried a new meatball recipe and simmered it using Rao's Tomato & Basil sauce. I served it over some pasta, whole wheat for Nick, regular for me :) This recipe made about 14 meatballs, so there will be plenty of leftovers! The original recipe calls for dunking the raw meatballs in the sauce and simmering for 3 hours. I decided to brown them first on both sides so that they wouldn't fall apart, and to keep the flavor sealed in. This cut my simmer time down a bit. With plenty of sauce, about a jar and a half, I simmered them for about 2 hours and turned them a couple of times. This will definitely win some folks over, and are great for a group! Enjoy :)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground beef (I used 93/7)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tb fresh Parsley
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1-1/2 jar of good quality marinara sauce (or homemade)
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl (except the marinara sauce). Form into meatballs, approximately the size of a golf ball. Put a swirl of olive oil in a pan and once hot, brown the meatballs on each side, just about 30 seconds per side. Place the meatballs into a dutch oven filled with the marinara sauce and simmer for approximately 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally. These could be done after an hour, but I needed to let mine go a bit longer to keep them warm. Meanwhile, boil some pasta of your choice. Once the meatballs are done, top the pasta and add some freshly grated Italian cheese and parsley.
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