Ingredients
- onion, chopped
- 2 medium (total in recipe 4 medium)
- garlic, minced
- ½ heads (total in recipe 1½ head)
- olive oil (not virgin)
- taste
- tomato puree
- 2 cans
- tomato paste
- 1/3 small can
- water
- 3 cups
- sugar
- taste
- salt
- taste
- pepper
- taste
- garlic powder
- taste
- Ingredients (meatballs):
- basil leaves, chopped
- ¼ cups
- celery leaves, chopped
- 1 cups (leaves from ~3 bunches)
- onion, chopped
- 2 medium
- garlic, minced
- 1 heads
- bread
- 3 slices
- milk
- ½ cups
- hamburger, ground (85%)
- 1¼ lb
- pork, ground
- 1 lb
- eggs
- 4
- salt
- taste
- pepper
- taste
- garlic powder
- taste
- parmesan cheese, fresh grated
- taste (at least ½ cups)
- olive oil (not virgin)
- taste
- flour
- 1 cups
Instructions
- Wash and separate basil leaves and celery leaves, and lay out leaves flat between two paper towels to dry.
- Chop onions, and mince head of garlic. Chop basil leaves and celery leaves. Prepare breadcrumbs by mashing bread with milk.
- In a cast iron pan, add 2 chopped onions and ½ minced head of garlic, and generously coat with olive oil. Brown onions and garlic over medium/high heat, stirring occasionally. Tomato Sauce:
- In a kettle, add cans of tomato puree, rinse each can with the water. Put kettle over medium/high heat. Add tomato paste. Add 1/3 cups sugar. Add browned onions and garlic to kettle. Add around 1 tsp of salt and ½ tsp pepper. Add 3 tbsp olive oil to kettle. Meatballs:
- In a large bowl, mix by hand, remaining onions and garlic, basil leaves, celery leaves, breadcrumbs, hamburger, pork, and eggs. Add 1½ tsp salt Add ½ tsp pepper. Add 2 tsp garlic powder. Add ½ cups parmesan cheese. Mix by hand for texture and taste. Should by mushy and slightly watery. Add breadcrumbs, water, salt, pepper, garlic powder and parmesan cheese to taste (yes, taste the raw mixture, but don’t eat it).
- In a cast iron pan, cover bottom with olive oil, heat oil over medium/high heat. Slightly wet palms of hands, and then roll balls out of meat mixture to desired size and gently add to pan. Dust meatballs in a little flour. Brown the meatballs (DO NOT OVERCOOK), moving them around with a fork. Transfer the meatballs to kettle, where the meatballs will finish cooking. Tomato sauce:
- Reduce temperature to medium/low to simmer the sauce. DO NOT ADD MORE SEASONING (i.e. SALT, PEPPER) UNTIL AFTER 1 HOUR. Simmer sauce for an hour. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and olive oil to taste. Simmer sauce for a few hours (~3 hours).
Notes
salt, pepper, garlic powder, parmesan cheese are all to taste. Too much salt: potato trick doesn’t work, add more tomato puree, water and seasoning. Too much sugar: large splash of vinegar, add more tomato puree, water and seasoning.