This Italian meatball recipe came from my parent’s Italian friends. Mom always made homemade spaghetti sauce when we were growing up, but she didn’t always make meatballs. Her meatsauce was really good, but meatballs were always a treat. I never made them when the boys were little, but now that they’re mostly grown, I’ve rediscovered the joy of meatballs. Start to finish, a large recipe (starting with 1 ½ lbs. of ground beef) took me about 30 minutes to assemble. I made 52 meatballs! The regular sized recipe would have been plenty. But now we have some extra for the freezer. And make no mistake, these homemade meatballs are much better than the frozen kind, and a lot lower in fat and salt.
Mom used to freeze her spaghetti sauce in reused Cool-whip containers. Imagine the disappointment when us kids opened the container to find spaghetti sauce instead of Cool-whip! Now I freeze everything in clear Ziploc freezer bags. And Cool-whip is eaten immediately.
I remember polenta on the menu at our favorite Italian restaurant in Hurley, WI, where Grandma Leone lived. It’s a nice change from noodles, and a lot easier than Risotto. I can’t find polenta in my grocery store, so I use Quaker cornmeal. It has a finer texture which polenta purists might not like, but it also cooks quickly, which is perfect for a busy family.
You can serve it with Italian Ciabatta bread on the side, and a simple green salad.
Meatballs with Polenta
Ingredients
Amendola’s meatball recipe:
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Marinara sauce:
- 28 oz. can Hunt’s tomato sauce
- 14 oz. can Hunt’s tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- splash of Tabasco sauce
Polenta:
- 6 cups of water
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 1 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Mix all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Use your hands to form meatballs of whatever size you like. Bake on a rimmed pan at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
- Combine all the marinara sauce ingredients in a large saucepan, and bring them to a boil. When the meatballs are cooked, add them to the sauce and stir to thoroughly coat the meatballs. Continue cooking for at least 10 minutes, or up to all afternoon. Alternately, you can make the meatballs ahead of time, and cook the sauce and meatballs together in a slow cooker on low for as long as you like.
- For the polenta, bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in cornmeal and garlic salt until no lumps remain. Continue cooking and stirring from time to time for about 10-15 minutes, or until the polenta is thickened and soft. Add butter and cheese before serving. Alternately, you can mix the cornmeal with one cup of cold water, then boil only 5 cups of water on the stove. Adding the cornmeal/water combo to the boiling water may avoid lumps, if you have a problem with that.
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