Takes some specialized equipment. Also, this makes a lot, this is what I use for dinner parties and it feeds about a dozen.
So: you mix up the meatballs, smoke them for a while for flavor, bake them in the oven at high heat to get some browning on the outside, and then let them finish cooking in the sauce. The bit where you smoke them is not necessary but adds a great dimension to the meatballs and the sauce.
You are only using the smoker here to add flavor, you don’t want to cook them anywhere near completion. When I pulled them off the smoker the internal temp was around 90 degrees Farenheit.
If you don’t have a smoker, add a few minutes to the baking time. They’re still really good meatballs.
You want to let them finish in the sauce, during that time they’ll meld with the sauce and bring everything together. The point is really that you don’t want to cook them to completion on their own.
For the sauce, I use sugar to remove acidity. You don’t want to go overboard, obviously. After you have everything in the pot and it’s been simmering for a few minutes, add a few tablespoons of sugar and then taste it after the sugar dissolves in. You should notice a difference. For a batch like this, a quarter cup of sugar is not unreasonable.
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
2 pounds Italian Sausage, casing removed
2 pounds ground beef, I prefer 85/15 for the fat content
1/2 a pound prosciutto, finely chopped
10 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 large bunch of parsley, finely minced
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 large yellow onion, minced
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon kosher salt, give or take
For the sauce
3 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
3 4 ounce cans tomato paste
2 large yellow onions, diced
4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped (I used a mandoline)
3-4 stalks celery, finely chopped (also used a mandoline)
8 cloves garlic, chopped
Water to cover
Sugar and Salt to taste
3 ounces fresh basil leaves, washed and torn, to finish
2 cups pasta cooking water, to finish
Directions
Make the meatballs! First, add the milk and breadcrumbs to a large mixing bowl, stir to combine, and give it a minute to let the breadcrumbs absorb the milk. This is a good time to spend chopping your onion for the meatballs.
Add everything else for the meatballs to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Roll them into meatballs and place them on a large sheet pan or some other kind of baking dish.
If using a smoker: bring it up on low heat – I brought mine to 170 – and smoke for 60-90 minutes to absorb the flavor. After that, pull them from the smoker and bring your oven (or your grill if you want, makes no difference) to 450 and bake for 10 minutes, until the outsides are browning and getting a little stiff.
If you don’t have a smoker, just skip straight to the bit where you bake them at 450 for 15 minutes (at most). You could also use a broiler, that should work great too.
While that’s going on, prepare your sauce. Add a generous amount of oil to a pot, add some red pepper flakes if you want it spicy, and heat on medium high until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery and saute until the vegetables are softened through.
Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste to the pot and increase on high until it boils, then reduce heat to simmer. Leave it to simmer for half an hour, and taste for salt and sugar.
Once you have the sauce in a good place, add the meatballs to the pot, and then add water until the meatballs are covered. Return to a simmer, then let cook for another half an hour or until the meatballs are cooked through. I had pretty big meatballs for this, so it took a while. Helps to use a cooking thermometer to see if they’re done.
While that’s going on, cook your pasta! Bring salty water to a boil and follow package instructions. Right before the pasta is done, dip a measuring cup into the pot and scoop out two cups of starchy pasta water. Drain your pasta, then add the pasta water to the sauce, along with the torn basil. Stir everything together briefly until the sauce thickens (shouldn’t take long).
Dump some meatballs and sauce onto pasta and enjoy!
eatbensmeat 