Recipe Square Meatballs with Pomodoro Sauce

[CraigC]

This caught my eye on another site and will be on the menu this week!

Ingredients
SAUCE:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 small onion, finely chopped
4 minced garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 basil sprigs, plus chopped leaves for garnish
One 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Kosher salt

MEATBALLS:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 3/4 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for garnish
1 cup shredded Asiago cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 onion, finely chopped
4 minced garlic cloves
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped oregano
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon of kosher salt Pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions
Step 1 Make the sauce In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the basil, tomatoes and sugar and simmer until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Add the vinegar and season with salt. Keep warm.
Step 2 Make the meatballs Line a small rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl and using your hands, combine all of the ingredients except for the olive oil. Scrape the meat onto the baking sheet and press into a 9-by-13 inch single layer. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Step 3 Cut the ground meat into 2-by-2 inch squares. In a large nonstick pan, heat the olive oil. Cook the “meatballs”, turning once, until they are a deep brown and just cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Step 4 To serve, place a spoonful of the pomodoro sauce in 4 shallow bowls. Top with meatballs and garnish with chopped basil and more parmesan.

 

[Morning Glory]

An interesting technique which gets round the issue of meatballs going flat on one side (or two) when frying! Looks as if the recipe is from Chef Stefan Bowers of Battalion in San Antonio, Texas and appears in Food & Wine (don't know if it was correctly attributed on the site where you found it). https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/square-meatballs-pomodoro-sauce

 

[medtran49]

I don't like this at all. The meatballs have a funky taste, not sure if it's because of the equal parts pork and beef, all the cheeses or the lemon juice and zest. Besides that, they are dry and tough. I wondered about that when we made the mixture because it was so tight and seemed dry to me but figured we'd go by the recipe. Should have listened to myself. It's the first fail we've had from Food and Wine.

Weird though, Craig didn't like the sauce at all, but I thought it was good. He hasn't said much about the meatballs other than there's too much lemon flavor in them.

 

[Morning Glory]

I don't like this at all. The meatballs have a funky taste, not sure if it's because of the equal parts pork and beef, all the cheeses or the lemon juice and zest. Besides that, they are dry and tough. I wondered about that when we made the mixture because it was so tight and seemed dry to me but figured we'd go by the recipe. Should have listened to myself. It's the first fail we've had from Food and Wine.

Weird though, Craig didn't like the sauce at all, but I thought it was good. He hasn't said much about the meatballs other than there's too much lemon flavor in them.

There is a lot of cheese in the meatballs too...