Mama’s Marinara Sauce And Meatballs

Total Time: 3 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1/2 onion, peeled and chopped fine
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 (28 ounce) cans tomato puree
• 1 (23 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 onion
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf italian parsley
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/2 lb ground lamb
• 1/2 lb ground veal
• 1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Recipe

• 1 mama's marinara sauce.
• 2 cook the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a sauce pot over a medium-low flame, about 10 minutes or until garlic is tender and onions translucent, not brown (this is called “sweatingâ€? because it will draw out a lot of moisture and flavor).
• 3 add all the tomato products. pour the chicken stock into one of the 28-ounce cans. fill it the rest of the way with water and add that and the sugar to the pot. stir and bring to a simmer. taste and season with red pepper flakes and salt, and cover. simmer the sauce for about 1 hour. the sauce should be fairly thin but not watery and very smooth. uncover and simmer for 3 minutes. if it is too thin for your taste, add a little water if it seems thick.
• 4 mama's meatballs.
• 5 place the chicken stock, onion, garlic, and parsley in a food processor and purée.
• 6 in a large bowl, combine the puréed stock mix, meat, bread crumbs, eggs, parmigiano-reggiano, red pepper flakes, and salt. combine with both hands until the mixture is distributed evenly. do not overmix.
• 7 put a little olive oil on your hands and form the mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls. they should be about ¼ cup each, though if you prefer bigger or smaller, it will only affect the browning time.
• 8 pour about ½ inch of olive oil into a straight-sided, 10-inch-wide sauté pan and heat over a medium-high flame. add the meatballs to the pan (working in batches, if necessary) and brown the meatballs well on all sides. this will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
• 9 while the meatballs are browning, heat the marinara sauce in a stockpot over medium heat. lift the meatballs out of the sauté pan with a slotted spoon and put them in the marinara sauce. stir gently. simmer for one hour.
• 10 serve with a little extra parmigiano-reggiano sprinkled on top.