Italian Meatballs with Red Sauce and Roasted Vegetables

When Tim and I met, we quickly realized that we shared a history of having moms who liked cooking, and this was in turn because they had moms who liked cooking themselves.

We grew up in homes where our families got super jazzed about dinner, and would build holidays around what to eat and where.

It’s such a wonderful thing to have an Italian grandma who makes homemade sauce from the tomatoes in her garden (you can read more about growing your own tomatoes on our sister site, Gardener’s Path),  and who always has food on hand that she’ll offer you when you come by.

And it’s such a treasure to have a close relationship with a grandmother or a mom, or an aunt, or a friend who always said, going back to your earliest memories, that her house is your house and you can always go there and feel safe.

I’m still shocked that we have a kid of our own, a new person who will grow up eating the foods our grandmas made, and hearing about the traditions they cherished. Taking care of him is work in the same way that cooking for other people is work, but it’s a rich type of work that’s so rewarding.

Providing for those you love, and sitting down to a plate of something good to eat when you’re hungry, is one of the sweetest and most rewarding parts of life. Over time, these simple moments become the bulk of our days, and we will be able to look back and remember the ways we loved each other, through food.

Food is so practical. It’s so necessary. But at times, it is also extravagant, a form of entertainment and fun that you can share with those you love.

I’ve posted a lot of recipes that remind me of my grandma or that come from my grandma, and I’ve posted at least one or two that come from Tim’s. Today, here’s one more.

These meatballs are made the way Tim likes them, with a cooking method that I’ve also come to love. They’re adapted from a cookbook that Tim’s grandma liked, one from whence I’ve been told she pulled a lot of her cooking secrets. But their proportions and the finer details have been tweaked as they’ve evolved over the years, since being passed down to Tim.

They still maintain the classic charm of his grandmother’s recipe, without going too far off the beaten path. I’ve made variations to this recipe, one time with inspiration from Moroccan cuisine, but Tim adores when I stick to tradition.

We recommend making the meatballs, adding them to the sauce as it reduces, and then serving the whole thing over a bed of roasted vegetables.

You can also serve them with any sauce you like atop pasta, or add them to an Italian wedding soup. They also make a delicious filling for meatball sandwiches.

If you don’t want to eat all of them right away, but you don’t want to halve the recipe, feel free to freeze some in zip-top bags. Store the sauce separately.

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Cooking By the Numbers…

Step 1 – Prep and Saute Aromatics and Sauce

Chop the onions and garlic.

In a large cast iron or nonstick saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat.

Add the onions and garlic, season with a pinch of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, and cook until translucent, for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and whisk to combine. Cook for an additional minute, and then transfer to a small plate or bowl to cool to room temperature.

Don’t toss your pan into the sink – you’ll use it again later.

Place the marinara in a large, wide stew pot over medium heat. Bring  to a gentle simmer, reduce heat to low, and then cover with a lid. You can also choose some of our homemade sauces, if jarred isn’t your style. Try our oven-roasted tomato sauce or creamy tomato sauce.

Step 2 – Chop Parsley and Form Meatballs

Chop the parsley. Feel free to save to the stems to add to a batch of homemade vegetable stock!

In a large mixing bowl, add the ground beef, cooled onion mixture, breadcrumbs, parsley, eggs, 1/4 cup Pecorino, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper.

Gently fold the mixture together.

Using about 2 tablespoons as your size guideline, form the mixture into equally sized balls.

Step 3 – Sear

In the same pan that you used to cook the onions and garlic, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat.

Add as many as you can without crowding the pan. This is important, because you want them to get a brown crust on the outside. Placing too many in the pan at once will cause them to steam instead.

Working in batches, sear the tops and bottoms of the meatballs until a golden-brown crust forms, about 30-45 seconds per side. If they do not release easily from the pan when you try to flip them, wait 15 more seconds or so.

Add more oil to the pan between batches, as needed.

Step 4 – Finish in Sauce

Using a slotted spoon, remove the browned meatballs from the pan and transfer them to the marinara. Spoon sauce over each one so they are completely immersed;  this will help them to cook evenly.

Cover the pot and simmer over low heat until they are cooked through, for about 25-30 minutes.

Step 5 – Slice and Roast Vegetables

While the meatballs are simmering, preheat your oven to 425°F.

Trim the ends off of the zucchini, squash, and eggplant. Slice them lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick strips. Slice the onion into 1/4-inch-thick rings.

On two large baking sheets, toss the zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, and red onion with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and season them with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Make sure the veggies are arranged in a single layer without being overcrowded. Much like the meatballs, they’ll steam instead of roasting if they’re packed in there too tightly.

Toss once halfway through, and roast until lightly charred and tender, about 15-20 minutes. Remove pans from the oven.

Step 6 – Plate and Serve

Divide the roasted vegetables among four dishes.

Top with equal portions of the meatballs and marinara.

Garnish with the remaining Pecorino and serve immediately.