Meatballs & Sauce

Every weekend we make my grandmother's recipe for meatballs and sauce. First we make the sauce, then we pan fry the meatballs in lard using 1 pound each of ground beef, lamb, and pork all from our local farmer. The meatballs are browned quickly on the outside and left uncooked in the middle. As each batch browns we scoop them out and add them to the hot pot of sauce to finish cooking all the way through.

My grandmother's sauce recipe:

What you'll need:

1-2 pounds of pork neck bones or other meaty bones of your choice (optional)

3 tablespoons of lard or fat of your choice

4 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced

1 onion peeled and cut into quarters

2 large cans of tomato puree

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 jar of tomato paste

2 tablespoons of dried Italian herbs

1 teaspoon of salt

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon of dried oregano

5 -7 leaves of fresh basil

What to do:

In a large sauce pan on medium heat, saute meat bones in lard until brown, add onions and cook for 2 minutes or until just soft, add garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add paste, Italian seasoning, oregano and salt. Stir, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

Add the tomato pure, diced tomatoes and bay leaves. Add six cups of water. Yes, the sauce will look watery.

Bring sauce to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer while you prepare the meatball mixture.

After the meatballs are brown, drop them in the sauce to finish cooking. After all the meatballs are in the sauce, turn the sauce off. Adjust seasoning and add salt to taste.

Note, if the sauce looks to water, take the meatballs out and continue to simmer the sauce until desired thickness.

Be in health.