INGREDIENTS FOR MEATBALLS

• 1 lb. beef & pork mix
• 3 slices (approx.) of old Italian bread
• 1 mdm. onion (half for meatballs, half for sauce)
• oil
• 1 tsp. salt (approx.)
• 20 dashes of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 tbsp. fresh parsley
• 1 cup Romano cheese
• 2 eggs

INGREDIENTS FOR TOMATO SAUCE

• 1/2 mdm. onion, sauteed with oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 28 oz. can, whole peeled San Marzano
• 8 oz. can, tomato sauce (w/ salt)
• 6 oz. can, tomato paste
• 2 tbsp. fresh parsley
• garlic salt
• black pepper
• basil (1/2 tsp. dried or 6-8 fresh leaves)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 beef bouillon cube

METHOD

Soak the bread in water, then squeeze most of the water out.

Saute 1 medium onion in oil. One-half of it will go in the meatball mix and the other half will go in the sauce.

Combine the ground meat with the bread and half of the sauteed onions. Sprinkle in about 1 tsp. salt and 20 dashes of freshly ground black pepper.

Mince together 1 clove of garlic and several (2-3) tablespoons of fresh parsley.

Grate 1 cup of Romano cheese.

Add to the meat mix. Also add 2 eggs.

For the sauce, mince 3 more cloves of garlic and 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley.
Put it and the onion/oil mix that had been sauteing into a Dutch oven. Add “a good sprinkling” of garlic salt and pepper. Add the 28-oz. and 8-oz. cans of tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Place the 6 oz. of tomato paste in a separate bowl and mix it with 4 cans of water (6-oz. size). Add it to the sauce. Mash the 28 ounces of whole tomatoes into the bowl of sauce. Add about 1/2 tsp. dried basil (or 6-8 fresh leaves) and 1 bay leaf.

Note: Total cooking time for simmering the sauce should be no more than one-and-a-quarter hours. Cooking time for the meatballs should be no more than 20-30 minutes. You can either simmer the sauce for a while and add the meatballs for the last 30 minutes or you can start the sauce with the meatballs already added – then remove the meatballs after a half hour and continue simmering the sauce. There’s no real difference in taste either way. Simmering for longer will thicken the sauce if it seems to be too watery.

Now, back to making the meatballs: Dip your hands in water so the meat won’t stick and mix together the meatball ingredients.

Shape into meatballs about the size of small Clementine oranges.

Place the meatballs on a roasting pan or baking tray that has some olive oil spread on it.

Broil until the meatballs brown on top, then flip and broil a few minutes more on the other side.

Place the meatballs in the tomato sauce. Spoon some of the watery sauce back into the roasting pan, stirring and scraping the pan juices into the pot of tomato sauce.

Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, maximum, so the sauce doesn’t suck all the flavor out of the meatballs. If the sauce isn’t salty enough or needs more kick, add a beef bouillon cube.

As stated earlier, total cooking time for simmering the sauce should be no more than one-and-a-quarter hours.