I make meat sauce all the time…but want to hear something sort of weird? I’ve never made meatballs. That unfortunate situation changed last night, when I tried out my friend Marianne’s totally foolproof (and totally mouthwatering) recipe.
MARIANNE’S MEATBALLS (Adapted from Rocco DiSpirito)
What you need:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (preferably 90% lean)
1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs (I used Panko because I had a box left over from the last time I made Pork Milanese)
1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano
2 eggs, beaten
Salt & pepper
1 large Idaho potato
1 jar pasta sauce of your choice (I used Classico’s Mushrooms & Ripe Olives sauce)
1/2 cup sliced hot cherry peppers, drained (I skipped this step because my supermarket was out of them)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together meat, bread crumbs, parmigiano, and eggs; season well.
3. Divide mixture up and roll into meatballs (I got 9; you may get more or less, depending on how big you want ’em); set aside.
4. Peel the potato and shred it on a box grater (caution: do not – repeat, do NOT – use a microplane). Wrap potato in a clean cotton towel and squeeze it over the sink to get out as much moisture as possible. They’ll be mushy; that’s fine.
5. Combine pasta sauce and cherry peppers in a medium, microwave-safe bowl, cover, and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes. Stir in shredded potatoes and season again.
6. Pour the sauce mixture into a 9″x13″ baking dish and add meatballs. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in oven for 30 minutes. Turn meatballs over and continue baking another 30 minutes or so, until meatballs are cooked through and potatoes are tender.
7. Serve over pasta, with a little parsley for garnish.
8. Make husband (and self) extremely, extremely happy upon realization that there’s more than enough for next-day leftovers.
