Grandma Concetta’s Meatballs

2 HOURS | HANDS ON MESSY BUT FABULOUS | SERVES 8

nutrition information (4 meatballs)

560 calories, 30g protein, 37g carbs, 40g fat, 3.5g sugar

ingredients

• 2 lbs of ground beef (I use 80/20)
• handful of grated cheese (parmesan or romano)
• 15 ritz crackers
• 1/2 tsp garlic
• 2 eggs
• pinch of salt
• pinch of oregano

*all ingredients can be altered to taste

directions

1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except the eggs.
2. In a separate small bowl, lightly whisk the two eggs.
3. Add all the ingredients together in a large bowl using your hands until evenly combined. Let the meatball mixture rest for five minutes to allow the ritz crackers time to soften.
4. Divide and shape the meat into about 32 meatballs, approximately 2 tbsp in volume each.

notes

(Let me tell you the story about this recipe card, complete with sauce smeared on it! This meatball recipe is one of Lou’s grandma’s recipes that I make all the time. Concetta never wrote down her recipes, so Lou’s Mom (Concetta’s daughter-in-law) wrote down Concetta’s recipes as best she could. I was able to copy most of Lou’s Mom’s cards years back. Judy had some recipes of her own, so I have many tucked away. The cards, combined with Lou’s wonderful memory of his grandma’s cooking, has preserved these recipes for us to pass on to our kids. These meatballs are fabulous! Back to the recipe … )

And of course, we are cooking the meatballs in the SAUCE! you can use any sauce that you prefer, but when I am making homemade sauce, I am making Mario Batali’s basic Tomato sauce. Delicious! Recipe follows:

2 HOURS| EASY | SERVES 8

nutrition information

272 calories, 4.2g protein, 20g carbs, 21g Fat, 12g Sugar

sauce ingredients

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 spanish onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped or 1 tbsp. dried
• ½ medium carrot, finely shredded (or 2 tbsp of sugar if you dont have time to cook down the carrot)
• 2 28-oz. cans peeled whole tomatoes
• kosher salt, to taste

sauce directions

1. In a 3-quart saucepan/pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Add thyme and shredded carrot and cook for 5 minutes more, or until the carrot is quite soft.
4. With your hands, crush tomatoes and add them with their juices.
5. Bring to a boil, stir often, and then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the sauce is as thick as hot cereal.

When you have the sauce cooking, you gently put the meatballs in the sauce, being careful to not break them. Make sure they are covered by sauce and cook them in the sauce on low for a couple of hours. Do NOT cook them on high – the sauce and the meatballs will burn. Be sure to check both the sauce and the meatballs occasionally, moving the meatballs gently with a big spoon, so be sure they are not sticking to the bottom of your pot.

Serve the meatballs with the sauce over your favorite pasta, sprinkling some parmesan over the top and serve with your favorite crusty bread. Your kitchen is going to smell DIVINE!