Homemade Maranara With Italian Sausage & Meatballs

Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• 2 (32 ounce) cans whole tomatoes
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 small-medium onion, diced
• 4 links sweet italian sausage, halved
• olive oil (for browning sausage)
• 1/8 teaspoon oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon basil
• 1/8 teaspoon bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic or 1/2 teaspoon one clove, minced
• salt & pepper (to taste)
• 1 lb ground beef (can also use lamb, turkey or chicken or a combination)
• 1 egg, beaten lightly
• 1/3 cup breadcrumbs or 1/3 cup cracker crumb
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated or shreaded)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon basil
• 1/8 cup parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Recipe

• 1 prepare sauce:.
• 2 empty 2 cans of whole tomatoes into a food processor and puree.
• 3 add in dried herbs and spices (oregeno, basil, bay leaves, garlic).
• 4 place contents from food processor into large stock pot.
• 5 place on medium low heat and simmer.
• 6 add sugar to sauce mixture.
• 7 cut sausage into halves and brown (do not cook throughly) over medium heat in olive oil.
• 8 add diced onion into stock pot.
• 9 remove browned sausages from skillet (discard oil) and add into sauce mixture in stock pot.
• 10 prepare meat balls:.
• 11 in large bowl combine meat, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. hand mix until combined well.
• 12 add in egg and cracker crumbs or bread crumbs. combine well.
• 13 add in parsley, combine well.
• 14 roll into meatballs.
• 15 drop raw meatballs into sauce. in order for meat to cook through throughly they must remain in simmering sauce for a minimum of 40 minutes. be careful not to stir sauce to vigorously during first 20-30 minutes as that may break up your meatballs, just stir enough to make sure meatballs are completely submerged in sauce. once 40-50 minutes has elapsed sauce should be ready to eat, as the meat should be cooked. i prefer allowing sauce to simmer on low heat for a 2-4 hours, as the longer this sauce cooks the better it tastes. the meat also absorbs more flavor from the sauce itself. as long as you cook meats at least 40-50 minutes in sauce mixture you should be fine. this does however change based on the size of the meatballs you make. i make ones around the size of a golf ball. larger meatballs take longer to cook. you can always take one out and cut it in half to see if they are cooked through throiughly.
• 16 enjoy!