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The Best Meatballs in Easy Tomato-Cream Sauce

yourhealthista:

Despite my ambiguous feelings toward Giada, her meatballs are really something special. I first discovered them when I made Giada’s Italian Wedding Soup. I had some leftover meatball meat (is that the right word?), so I decided to cook some up and eat them on their own. Best idea ever. They were delicious and totally carried themselves without the rest of the soup. (Side note: I’m SO behind on Season of Soup! I’m going to try to catch up, but I don’t know if I can. I think I finally got sick of soup! I can’t believe I’m saying that!).

I tweaked Giada’s recipe slightly, but it’s pretty close to the original. Here’s my version:

You’ll need (makes 10-12 large meatballs):

For the meatballs:

• 1 medium onion, grated
• 1 cup fresh Italian parsley
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 cup almond meal (you could also use bread crumbs)
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan 
• 16 ounces ground beef (I used organic grass-fed beef from TJs)
  
• 16 ounces ground pork (I used organic local stuff ground pork from Door to Door)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil

For the sauce:

• 1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes (with basil if possible)
• Italian seasoning to taste (basil, oregano, etc.)
• 1/2 cup cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf

Make it:

Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix well with your hands. Really get in there and mush stuff around!

Form large (palm-sized) balls and roll them in your hands before putting them aside on a plate or cutting board.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the balls (make sure to leave a little space between them for turning).

You’ll need to cook them on each side for about 5-7 minutes. When one side gets brown, turn it. The balls should cook for around 25-30 minutes total, but remember to keep turning so nothing burns!

While the meatballs are cooking, start the sauce. Pour tomatoes into a large sauce pan, add seasonings and bay leaf, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Once the meatballs are done, take the sauce off the heat and let it rest of a few minutes. Then, add cream and remove the bay leaf.

Ladle the sauce over your scrumptious meatballs and add Parmesan for garnish if you want. I served my balls with some roasted kale.

Ugh, so good. The tomato-cream sauce is so ridiculously easy, but it tastes genius. I think adding a bit of cream to a really acidic sauce is the way to go. A little goes a long way and it makes your sauce taste so much more rich and complex.

Giada, maybe you’re not so bad after all.