This recipe was passed down from my Mom, she had been making it as long as I can remember! Her sauce is kept light with the addition of crushed tomatoes and seasoned by the rich flavor of the Italian sausage. The homemade meatballs are inspired from a favorite meatloaf recipe which uses a combination of ground beef and ground pork… delicious.
Ingredients
Sauce:
1 pound mild Italian sausage, halved
72 ounces Marinara sauce sauce (3 24oz jars)
28 ounces can of roma crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Meatballs:
1 pound ground beef (85% lean)
1 pound ground pork
1/2 cup sauce (from this recipe)
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesean
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 leaves of basil for garnish
Preparation
1. For the sauce: Saute onion in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the crushed tomatoes and 3 cans of marinara sauce. Heat on medium-low heat till you get a slight simmer. While simmering, add the uncooked Italian sausage into the sauce.
2. For the meatballs: Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Line a baking sheet with non-stick foil. Using a cookie scoop or your hands, form meat into 2″ balls. Bake for 10 minutes until the outside is browned.
3. To put it all together, add the meatballs into sauce and let simmer on low for at least one hour, but up to three hours. Serve alone with crusty Italian bread, or over al dente penne pasta… or both!
Credit: Foodista