Marry Me Meatballs
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Say goodbye to tough, dry meatballs! These meatballs are moist and fluffy and served with a light tomato sauce.
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: Serves 6
Ingredients
  • Meatballs and sauce:
  • Olive oil
  • 1½ cups onion, diced (1 large onion)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp fennel seeds
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 500g lean ground beef
  • 500g lean ground pork
  • 1 cup panko crumbs
  • ½ cup full-bodied red wine
  • 1 large (796 ml/28oz) tin diced tomatoes OR 6 large fresh tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped*
  • ¼ tsp granulated sugar
  • .
  • Garlic Bread:
  • 1 fresh baguette
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
  • 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 3 large cloves garlic, minced or crushed
  • .
  • 500g dried spaghetti
  • 1 bunch fresh basil, coarsely chopped
  • Fresh parmesan, grated
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and add onions. Cook on medium-high heat until just starting to brown, roughly 10 minutes. Scrape onions out into a small bowl and set aside to cool.
  2. In a large bowl, combine egg, ricotta, fennel, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg. Add half of the sauteed onion and the parsley and stir to combine. Add beef, pork and mix with your hands until just combined (over-working the meat can cause it to become a little tougher so don't worry too much about this but do keep it in the back of your mind- this is why using your hands is really... handy).
  3. Roll meat mixture into large balls- I like a size somewhere between a golf ball and a billiard ball (a healthy handful). Heat your heavy-bottomed pot with another glug of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, brown the meatballs (you may need to do this in a couple batches, depending on the size of your pot). Don't worry if they stick a bit or look imperfect- anything that sticks will be deglazed off and craggy meatballs let more sauce stick to them!
  4. Remove browned meatballs to a separate plate. Add red wine to the still-hot pan to deglaze, scraping up all those delicious caramelized oniony, meaty bits. Add diced tomatoes and the other half of the sauteed onions. Reduce the heat to medium-low and gently add the meatballs back into the pot, tucking them into the sauce a bit. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, basting the meatballs occasionally with the tomatoey sauce that forms.
  5. To prep the garlic bread (not mandatory but very, very encouraged), slice the baguette lengthwise, keeping one edge intact. Melt the butter in a small bowl and then add the garlic and parsley and mix together. Using a spoon, drizzle and spread the garlic butter throughout the inside of the baguette. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over one side then close the baguette and wrap it in aluminum foil. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and the garlic fragrance is softened.
  6. Boil spaghetti noodles according to the package instructions, drain and then toss with a small glug of olive oil so the noodles don't stick together when serving. Serve immediately alongside your meatballs (sprinkled with your fresh basil and a bit more parmesan cheese) and some sliced garlic bread (and more wine... you only used half a cup in the recipe, you still have the rest of the bottle! ;)
Notes
* To quickly and easily peel fresh tomatoes: Boil a large pot of water. Prep a big bowl with cold water and some ice cubes. Ease all the tomatoes into the water and let them sit for approximately 1 minute (or as much as 2 minutes for really huge tomatoes), transfer the tomatoes to the ice bath. The tomato skins should peel off very easily once they are cool enough to handle.
Recipe by Port and Fin at https://portandfin.com/marry-me-meatballs/