The Italian side of my family doesn't have a meatball recipe. Disgraceful, right?
Seriously, everyone on the Italian side of my family has their own method of making meatballs. It's usually some combination of ground meat, breadcrumbs, and eggs, with no regard to measuring. Every time I've watched a family member make meatball, it's different. Some include parsley, some parmesan cheese, some oregano, some sausage... the fact that an Italian family doesn't have a written meatball recipe that is treated like a god-given gift is baffling to me, especially since the tomato sauce recipe is decidedly given that treatment.
I don't make meatballs often, as they can be a little time consuming. Usually, I'll just fry some ground beef and make the sauce in the beef drippings for a delightful meat sauce. There has to be a reason for me to make meatballs with my pasta.
Or at least, that was until I developed this recipe.
I was craving meatballs. As mentioned before, I don't specifically love red meat, but I occasionally get a craving (probably due to an iron deficiency because, well, I don't eat a ton of red meat). This manifested itself into craving some saucy meatballs. However, I wasn't craving pasta, which almost never happens. I had to figure out a way to make the task of making meatballs worth the effort if there wasn't going to be pasta at the finish line. After much brainstorming, I thought it might be fun to try out making a meatball that I might need to use down the line to trick my kid into eating vegetables when he finally decides vegetables are icky (I know, I'm a monster). The result was a very m-word meatball thanks to the addition of the veggies, specifically zucchini, which is chock full of m-word-ture. The addition of carrots brings a sweet aromatic touch, and the umami of perfectly fried mushrooms worked into the mixture pump up the flavor to the point where you aren't mad about the veggies. If you wanted, you could add some parmesan to the mix, but I kept it dairy free during testing.
I could have tested this recipe out on my son; he has 8 teeth at this point and is diving into the world of solid food. But I needed to see if these vegetables really could trick someone into eating vegetables.
Enter: my wife's Aunt Clare.
Clare is a self-proclaimed vegetable hater. She hates vegetables more than a Karen hates not being able to use her expired coupon. My in-laws and I tease her for her rejection to roughage. I think it's because she's the first adult I've ever met that actively and publicly damns vegetables. (Okay, maybe I'm being a bit extreme, but Clare isn't afraid to tell you to leave the vegetables off her plate. I don't mean to put Clare on blast, but this isn't a secret by any means).
All I have to say is that Clare ate these meatballs and didn't say anything until my mother-in-law and I practically fell out of our seats trying to contain our laughter. Clare lauded them, in fact, continuously commenting how delicious they were in-between our snickers. But when we revealed to Clare the secret vegetables, she said, "Oh, I know. They're still delicious. I don't think I can finish though because they're so big"
Cue everyone thinking, "That's what she said."
So while the vegetables might be noticeable, they definitely are enhancing the meatballs, and not bringing them down. And if you aren't convinced, well, the sauce has over a cup of wine in it so...
(It should be noted that this sauce recipe is not my family's sauce recipe. I might be killed if I publish that.)
With a few more secrets up my sleeve,
~c.j.
SECRET GARDEN MEATBALLS
PREP TIME: 10 mins
ACTIVE COOK TIME: 20 mins
INACTIVE COOK TIME: 40 mins
TOTAL TIME: Roughly 50 minutes from start to finish
YIELD: 6-8 servings
INGREDIENTS
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
5 oz sliced mushrooms (I love shittake, but any kind will do)
4 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
2 shallots, minced, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced, divided
12 oz tomato paste
1 28 oz can whole San Marzano style tomatoes, with juices
1 1/2 c. red wine
cracked black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 medium zucchini, grated on the large holes of a box grater
1 medium carrot, peeled, grated on the large holes of a box grater
1 lb ground beef
1 lb mild Italian sausage, casings removed
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 c. breadcrumbs
1/4 c. fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a very large skillet or dutch oven, heat 3 tbsp olive oil over medium- high heat. Add the mushrooms in a single later and allow to cook undisturbed until very brown, about 7-8 minutes. Stir and flip the mushrooms, and allow to cook an additional 4-5 minutes. Remove mushrooms from the pot, season with 1/2 tsp salt, and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the pot and allow to heat. Add 1 minced shallot and cook stirring occasionally until soft and translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook stirring constantly 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir to soften, then add wine and tomatoes. Use a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes and combine the ingredients. Add 2 tsp salt, cracked black pepper, dried parsley, and red pepper flakes. Allow for sauce to come to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to cook uncovered and undisturbed, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the meatballs. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil (if using foil, coat the foil with cooking spray). Chop the reserved mushrooms very finely, then add to a large bowl, along with the zucchini, carrot, ground beef, sausage, eggs, breadcrumbs, fresh parsley, 1 minced shallot, 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 tsp salt, and cracked black pepper. Mix until well combined, but don't over-mix! Form meatballs into your hands, loosely rolling into a ball, and place onto the baking sheet. Once all meatballs are formed, bake until browned and mostly cooked through, about 15-20 minutes - they will finish cooking in the sauce, and there's no fear in overcooking these as the zucchini is helping to keep them from drying out. (Note: Meatballs can be any size - I used an ice cream scoop to measure these out so they would be the same relatively large size, yielding 20 meatballs. You can certainly make mini meatballs and bake for less time, or colossal meatballs and bake for longer.)
Once meatballs are done, remove from the oven and immediately transfer into the sauce. Toss to coat, and allow meatballs to simmer in sauce about 5 minutes. Serve however you like, such as with pasta, on a hoagie, with toothpicks as an appetizer, or over a pool of polenta.
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