Meatballs with Parsley and Homemade Marinara

It has been a cool summer here in the Midwest so pasta is tasting unusually good for this time of year. With fresh garden tomatoes coming to the farmer's markets or perhaps into your garden, I thought these recipes would be fun to share.

Freshly chopped tomatoes or homemade tomato puree substituted for canned ingredients make an even fresher-tasting marinara.

 
I will be freezing whole tomatoes to make pasta sauce and soup during the winter!

Meatballs with Parsley and Parmesan

Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit, June 1996
Printable Recipe

Makes about 44 meatballs

I substituted mayonnaise for the olive oil in the original recipe after reading the comment section of the recipe. It works great!

Ingredients:

4 large eggs
1/2 cup fresh French breadcrumbs or Panko breadcrumbs or a combination of both
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes (optional)
2 pounds of meatloaf mix or 2/3 pound lean ground beef, 2/3 pound ground veal and 2/3 pound ground pork

Preparation :

Preheat oven to 400F. Stir eggs, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, oil, parsley, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper in large bowl to blend. Add ground beef and mix thoroughly. Form mixture into 1 1/2-inch diameter meatballs and arrange on a rack over a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. You can also saute the meatballs in olive oil in your prefer.

Add cooked meatballs to your favorite marinara sauce and simmer until flavors are blended. Serve over cooked pasta. Top with some freshly grated parmesan and fresh basil chiffonade and enjoy!

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Mama's Marinara
Recipe Courtesy Rocco DiSpirito
Printable Recipe

Serves 6

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
Chili flakes to taste
2 28-ounce cans tomato puree (I used my garden tomatoes)
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (I used my garden tomatoes)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
1 cup chicken stock
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pot (large enough to hold all of the rest of the ingredients) over medium heat. Saute the garlic and onion about 10 minutes or until garlic is tender and onions translucent, but do not brown. Add the chili flakes to taste.

Stir in all the tomato ingredients. Add the chicken stock into one of the 28-oz cans and fill it the to the top with water and add that plus the sugar to the pot. Stir and bring to a simmer. Season with salt to taste and cover. Simmer the sauce for approximately 1 hour. The sauce should be thin, but not watery. Uncover and simmer longer if it is too thin or add a little water if is too thick.