Italian Meatballs and Sauce

My very first meatball! I love Italian food and somehow I've never made meatballs so I'm really excited about this dish especially since the recipe guinea pig said the sauce reminded him of his Mom's cooking. You must know how special it is when your man compares your food to his Mom's! I'm stoked!


As this was such a success I'd like to share this with Presto Pasta Night hosted this week by Aquadaze of Served with Love

(Feeds 6 people)
Meatballs:
3 tbsp olive oil
500g lamb mince
500g beef mince
2 eggs (beaten)
3 slices of bread
Handful of fresh basil (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp dried oregano
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1/2 cup Parmesan

Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cans peeled plum tomatoes
2 small can tomato paste
1/4 cup water
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 large handful of fresh basil (chopped)
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp celery salt
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
- Blend tomatoes in a food processor
- Cook onions and garlic in a large pot with olive oil until onions start to turn clear. Add tomatoes, vinegar, water, cinnamon, celery salt, dried oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
- Wet bread slices with some water, then gently press bread to rinse out the water
- Put the mince meats in a large bowl with the basil, oregano, breadcrumbs, garlic, egg and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Work all ingredients together with your hands until evenly mixed. Shape mixture into golf size balls and set aside for a few minutes
- Cook meatballs in a pan with olive oil. Cook them evenly around all sides. You'll only manage to cook meatballs in the pan in batches at a time so as each one is done place them into the tomato sauce (you should get about 20 meatballs, give or take)
- Leave sauce and meatballs on simmer for 45 minutes

I served this with penne. Or you could served with a side of steamed green beans. Traditionally, Italian meatballs and tomato sauce is not serves with pasta (especially not spaghetti. Does anyone else out there find meatballs awkward to eat with long noodles like I do?)

This is a great meal to make in large amounts because it freezes well. Excellent for those days when you won't have time to cook a meal from scratch