All covered in cheese...I love meatballs. Looooooooove. But I've never done that thing where you brown the meatballs and then cook them the rest of the way in tomato sauce. This is an idea that has always been interesting to me. I just hadn't done it. Everything turned out pretty well. I like meatballs no matter what.
Big Meatballs Cooked in Tomato Sauce
You could make smaller meatballs, in which case cook them for less time. I made about a dozen baseball sized meatballs, and I froze some of them to eat later. The day after I made this I used some leftovers to top pizza, which was maybe the best idea ever. For pizza inspirations, check out these posts.
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef
1 1/4 c gluten free breadcrumbs (I grind up store bought gf bread in the food processor)
1/2 c parmesan cheese
1 1/2 t salt
a good grinding of pepper
1 t garlic powder (or 2 cloves crushed garlic)
1 t each dried oregano and thyme and paprika
1 egg
2 T olive oil
2 T vegetable oil
about 2 cups of tomato sauce - recipes here and here or use your favorite, or just plain canned tomato sauce
1/2 c wine or stock
Optional - vegetables, like onion, carrot, celery, mushroom, etc
Combine pork and beef in a bowl. Add bread crumbs, cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, paprika and egg. Moosh together with your hands until everything is completely combined, then mix another minute or two just to be sure. Combine olive and vegetable oil in a wide pan with high sides (I like this one) and heat over medium-high heat while you form the meat into baseball sized balls. Place the meatballs in the pan and cook on each side until browned. You will need to cook them in batches. When the first batch is done, remove them to a place and cook the remaining balls. Pour off most of the oil, then if using vegetables, cook them in the same pan, stirring to scrape the meat up off the bottom. Don't worry if some of it sticks, it will come up when you add the tomato sauce, which would be about now. Dump in half of the sauce, then nestle the meatballs into the sauce. They should all fit now, they will have shrunk during cooking. Cover the meatballs with the rest of the sauce, then pour in the wine or stock. Cover, turn the heat down to low, and let simmer about half an hour, or until the meatballs are done.
Serve over gluten-free pasta of your choice, sprinkled with more Parm cheese.
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