August 11, 2013 | Posted in:Cooking
I tend to be a ‘throw it in the pan’ type of cook since I’m comfortable in the kitchen. I watched Julia Child on TV as a wee child, I then started reading and collecting cookbooks early in life. I learned at my mom’s knee and cooked with my Grandma on our visits, then cooked for the family as a teen which evolved into entertaining my friends in high school…sometimes garnering some amusing results in the process. (Overheated oil in the pan + dried chilies = homemade pepper spray. Oops. Great Kung Pao Chicken, though!) While I’m not Italian, I thank my mostly Irish Grandma Barb for being the best lasagna maker, and thereby, fueling my early enthusiasm for a good sauce.
Our nephew was in the area visiting this past weekend and as is sometimes the challenge with kidlets, he doesn’t eat everything that we eat. No prob, I gravitated to the classic comfort goodness of homemade Italian food. I regularly whip up batches of sauce and meatballs for the hubby so I thought this would be a great option for our nephew. For this batch I used 90% lean ground beef, though I make this recipe with turkey and they are just as tasty.
Best addition to my meatball and sauce ingredients and seasonings? The Spice & Tea Exchange of Winter Park’s Italian Street Market Blend. Smoked peppercorns and whole caraway seeds give so much flavor when freshly ground with this grinder!
I brown off my meatballs on the stove top, then assemble the sauce in the same pan to get some extra layers of flavors from the meatballs. After getting the sauce ingredients in the pan, I get the temperature back up and add the browned meatballs. Simmer covered on med to med-low heat for 45 minutes to several hours. The longer the better, as the flavors mingle and get happy.
Like most simmered sauces, it’s even better the second day. Freezes great, so I usually make a big batch and freeze smaller batches for future use. The meatballs and sauce are great with any pasta, perfect on toasted sub sandwiches and when I’m down to just a few lonely meatballs, they end up on pizzas.
For last nights dinner for hubby, I served the meatballs and sauce topped on whole wheat angle hair with some added sauteed julienne zucchini, which I’ll get into on a future post. Our nephew ate a full helping of pasta with sauce and meatballs and requested meatballs for lunch- so I made a 15 minute meal of meatball toasted subs with sauce on the side. Happy guys, happy cook in the kitchen due to an easy reheat. Mangia! Mangia!
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Lisa Wilk
Hello, I'm Lisa Wilk! I'm a freelance food, wine and travel writer, photographer and presenter based out of Orlando, FL. While covering local restaurants and food events in the #1 tourist destination in the US, I find endless cooking inspiration when dining out. You'll often find me in the kitchen putting my own spin on those elevated chef creations to enjoy at home and when entertaining. I have a love and enthusiasm for wine, wine education and wine pairing. Find me about town teaching and demystifying wine as part of the popular @TheTastyTrio in the popular Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Perfectly Paired program series I've co-developed. Taste, Cook and Sip along with me on Twitter and Instagram at @TasteCookSip and @WineChix! Cheers!
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