Italian Meatball Recipe

This Italian Meatball Recipe is very Italian and has probably been handed down for generations.

The recipe makes meatballs and sauce that freezes very well so you can always have them on hand.

Italian Meatball Recipe

Italian Meatballs Ingredients

48 ounces tomato paste
12 cups water
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon salt
5 pork chops
1 onion, diced
1 (8 ounce) package mushrooms, sliced

Italian Meatballs Sauce Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1/4 pound ground pork
1/4 pound ground veal
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/4 cups dry bread crumbs
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 eggs

To Make The Italian Meatballs Sauce:

In a large pot combine the tomato paste, water, garlic, bay leaves, basil, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the heat down to low and simmer.

In a skillet, brown the pork chops in olive oil and then place them in the sauce mixture. Saute the onions and the mushrooms in the same pan that you browned the pork chops. Add these to sauce as well. Simmer the sauce a minimum of 8 hours, stirring occasionally.

To Make The Italian Meatballs:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the beef, pork, veal, Romano cheese, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley and eggs; mix well. Shape the mixture into balls. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake the meatballs for 20 minutes. Place the meatballs in a serving bowl when the baking is complete and place them in the refrigerator. About 2 hours prior to dinnertime pop the meatballs into the sauce.

I've had some excellent bottled sauces from the grocery but for some reason they just don't capture the flavor of this homemade sauce. I think it's the long slow simmering that does it. The sauce manufacturers just won't invest that much time.

You can become the star spaghetti and meatballs chef in your neighborhood with this Italian Meatball Recipe!

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