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Derrick Dones

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Italian Meatballs and Gravy (red sauce) Recipe

by Derrick Dones » Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:51 am

I am looking for a good recipe for red sauce and meatballs...calling all Italians and non-Italians alike. If anyone has a recipe they wouldn't mind sharing, I'd truly appreciate it.

Anne Marie, I'm sure you have one!!!

Thanks! DD
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JenS

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Re: Italian Meatballs and Gravy (red sauce) Recipe

by JenS » Thu Jul 14, 2011 12:44 pm

I use a very easy recipe for meatballs that I found on Pioneer Woman. I'm sure that there are more "traditional" recipes out there, but this is quick for a dinner of meatball sliders or to throw on top of spaghetti for mi familia!

1 pound of ground beef (I go for the leanest available)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I use Panko)
1/2 cup of milk (I use skim)
a couple of minced garlic cloves
salt and pepper

mix with hands and roll into balls. Approx one tablespoon of meat for a ball. Saute some finely chopped onions in a skillet and when they are transparent scoot them to the perimeter of the skillet and add the meatballs. Brown meatballs and then cover with sauce. Put a lid on the skillet and let simmer until meatballs are cooked through. I often use jar sauce. Usually, it's a plain marinara style sauce.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Italian Meatballs and Gravy (red sauce) Recipe

by Robin Garr » Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:08 pm

That's easy, Jen, but really traditional. The use of milk and breadcrumbs is authentic (Northern Italian polpetti, at least) and makes them right. It works as well or better to cut up stale Italian bread into chinks, soak them in milk until soft, squeeze out some of the milk, and work the bread into the ground meat. Ground veal makes a nice option, too.

You can do a low fat version by simmering the raw meatballs gently in the sauce until they're cooked through, which makes a light dish. Browning the meatballs makes 'em mighty nice, though.
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Re: Italian Meatballs and Gravy (red sauce) Recipe

by JenS » Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:19 pm

Robin,
Thanks for the info! We love meatball sliders and my husband requests these at least once a week. I just figured that my use of panko had to break some authenticity laws :wink:

BTW, I do make my own sauce sometimes, but I have found some great bottled versions and that saves me some dishwashing (which I try to avoid like the plague).
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Gary Guss

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Re: Italian Meatballs and Gravy (red sauce) Recipe

by Gary Guss » Fri Jul 15, 2011 12:11 am

Here's the right way...

http://spaghettisauceandmeatballs.com/


I'm hungry just thinking about it
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BevP

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Re: Italian Meatballs and Gravy (red sauce) Recipe

by BevP » Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:32 am

For a really easy sauce you cannot beat the canned house labelled sauce from Lottsa Pasta. It is the best premade pasta sauce I have ever tried. I think it runs like $2.50 or so a can but worth every cent.
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Mark Head

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Re: Italian Meatballs and Gravy (red sauce) Recipe

by Mark Head » Tue Jul 26, 2011 7:33 am

I think you need to use more than one type of meat for the best meatballs. Beef and ground pork add a complexity that I like.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Italian Meatballs and Gravy (red sauce) Recipe

by Robin Garr » Tue Jul 26, 2011 10:24 am

annemarie m wrote:to make a true italian meatball, the 3 meats used are ground pork,beef and veal. :)

Italy is a very diverse country, though, and recipes vary a lot among regions. Polpette Milanese, like this recipe, usually has a mix of beef and sausage.
http://le-ricette-della-nonna.blogspot. ... anesi.html

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