Meatballs and Red Sauce Perfection

Sometime in 2016, I found a meatball recipe that I could prep while my kids napped. The sauce was muddled yet somehow tasted like tin, and the meatballs were fine but nothing special. I made that same recipe for almost 8 years.

This year I finally put my foot down: No More Mediocre Meatballs and Sauce! I got to work, and what I arrived at is a recipe inspired by Marcella Hazan's famous Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter. If you don't know her recipe, you should check it out now--I'll wait. Instead of standing at the stove for 45 minutes to make Marcella's classic recipe, I used my slow cooker and then added simple, delicate, two bite meatballs. These meatballs are easy to make and so is the sauce. Start the sauce in the slow cooker, assemble and broil the meatballs and then add them together to cook for 4-5 hours.

The result is spectacular. It's a dish that's deeply satisfying with rib-sticking meatballs, yet it's balanced, fresh, and bright. For a truly special meal, serve this with fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and salad. I cannot believe that I waited 8 years to have the meatballs and red sauce of my dreams. I hope that you enjoy this meal as much as my family does.

Meatballs and Red Sauce

Breadcrumbs with Milk

Broiled Meatballs

Everything in the Slow cooker

My family tends to live on the extremes in terms of pasta preference and we prefer tagliatelle to or thin spaghetti for this dish, but please use your favorite pasta.

NOTE ON PROTEIN: We use ground meat, but this recipe should work well with "fake" meat. Simply use one pound of your favorite ground beef substitute.

NOTE ON TOMATOES: When using a canned tomato as your star ingredient, please splurge on a can that you like. We prefer a mix of canned crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes. (Our current favorite brand is Organico Bello). You can also use canned whole tomatoes and then break them down with an immersion blender.

NOTE ON TIMING: Each slow cooker has its own personality, and you know your slow cooker best. The goals for this meal are 1) for the onions and butter to infuse the sauce and 2) meatballs to cook without breaking down. If I need this recipe in 3-3.5 hours, I'll keep the slow cooker on high after I add the meatballs and then cook on high until the sauce reaches about 180 degrees (meatballs will lag behind in temperature). At that point, I'll turn the cooker to low for another hour.

A NOTE ON DOUBLING THIS RECIPE: You can absolutely double this recipe, but please note that it will take more time for your sauce to come together. Please give your sauce a full 1.5-2 hours on high before you add meatballs, and then continue to adjust cooking time as necessary.

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Meatballs and Red Sauce

Sauce adapted from Marecella Hazan's "Tomato Sauce With Onion and Butter" in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Serves 5-6. Preptime 20-30 minutes. Plus Cook 4-5 hours in the slow cooker,

Ingredients

SAUCE

28 oz canned crushed tomatoes

14.28 oz can diced tomatoes

2-ish tablespoons water

1 medium yellow onion, peeled

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon Diamond kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)

fresh pepper to taste

optional: pinch of red pepper flakes

MEATBALLS

1/2 pound ground pork (80/20 or similar)

1/2 pound ground beef (80/20 or similar)

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 large or 2 and 1/2 medium pieces of sliced sandwich bread

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

1 large clove of garlic minced or pressed

1 teaspoon Diamond kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

fresh ground pepper

TO FINISH

12oz pasta cooked to preferred done-ness

1/2 lbs of fresh mozzarella, sliced thin or freshly grated parmesan

2 sprigs of fresh basil. Leaves torn or cut into bite sized pieces

MAKE YOUR SAUCE

Turn slow cooker to high. Pour crushed and diced canned tomatoes into your slow cooker, and then use 2 tablespoons of water to rinse out your tomato cans. Add any tomato remnants to slow cooker so that you get every last bit of tomato goodness. Cut onion in half length wise and then into quarters lengthwise, leaving the ends of the quarters attached so that they stay together in your sauce. Add onion, butter, salt, and pepper to slow cooker and cover so it begins to cook.

MAKE YOUR MEATBALLS

STEP ONE

Position oven rack in top third of the oven (about 6-8 inches from the broiler) and set oven to broil on high. Prep sheet pan by lightly covering with nonstick spray and set aside.

STEP TWO

If sliced bread it is very fresh, then toast it on your toaster's lowest setting to dry it out a bit. It should not take on any color! If bread is a few days old, then just place bread in a large mixing bowl (I never bother to remove the crust). Pour milk onto bread and use your hands to break it into crumbs See photo above. If there is still a lot of milk left in the bowl, then you need a little more bread. If you've got bread that feels like it hasn't been moistened with milk, then add a tablespoon more milk.

STEP THREE

Add meat, eggs, parmesan, garlic, salt, parsley and pepper to the bowl on top of your breadcrumbs. Use either a fork or your hands to mix together. Then roll meatballs into 20-ish 1.5-2 inch balls and space evenly on your sheet pan. Broil meatballs for 6-8 minutes. They're done when they've started to brown on top and the whole kitchen smells amazing.

STEP FOUR

Carefully add your meatballs to your slow cooker sauce. Cover slow cooker, turn down to low, and cook for 4-5 hours.

FINISH

STEP ONE

After 3-4 hours, with one hour before dinner, gently stir your meatballs and sauce to make sure everything is cooking evenly. Use a meat thermometer to make sure your meatballs are near 165 degrees and your sauce is at 180. If your meatballs are under 165, turn your crockpot back to high for the last hour. When cooking on high make sure to stir the sauce ever 20-30 minutes to keep the edges from burning.

STEP TWO

Cook your pasta according to package directions. When pasta is cooked, I put pasta in a bowl, add a few ladles of sauce (no meatballs!) into the pasta, and then pour meatballs and remaining sauce on top. Finish with shredded basil.