Friday, September 25, 2009

Italian Sausage Meatballs

1 lb 93% ground beef
1/3 lb Italian sausage
2 tbls chopped fresh basil
1 tbl chopped fresh oregano
1 clove of minced garlic
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tbls parmesan cheese
2 tbls chopped fresh parsley
1 egg
1/4 cup finely diced onion
salt and pepper

Combine everything well. Make small balls and broil them until brown and mostly cooked. Add to some tomato sauce and simmer for an hour or two. If not finishing them in sauce, bake the meatballs at 375 til cooked through.

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These are those meatballs I mentioned the other day. They were quite simple, but I just kind of threw them together so the measurements up top aren't too precise. I know some of you are probably shaking your heads at the 93% beef, but I've found that when you are mixing meats together and one is really fatty (like sausage) then using 93 works out well. The final product turns out more balanced, not greasy like if you used 85 and mixed it with sausage. These came out good, we made sandwiches with them, clearly. Heh. I also whipped up a simple tomato sauce, so why don't we start there.

First I browned up some onion. I like it nice and dark for sauce, I think it adds the best flavor. You might notice the large chunks of garlic. I didn't feel like mincing and I was planning on doing a slow, low cook for it anyway. The garlic gets soft and breaks up, eventually. Then I deglazed with maybe a cup of Merlot. Let that reduce till the booze smell was gone, then a little more to concentrate the flavors. Then I dumped in a large can (28 oz I think) of crushed tomatoes. Some basil and oregano and then it's just simmer for an hour or two. I like letting sauce simmer a long time, I find the end result is best that way. But there's nothing saying you have to do it like this if you want it faster or think it tastes fine as is. Now, meatballs. In here we've got all the stuff mentioned up top. I just mixed it up, by hand, and formed it into balls. Plopped them onto a pan and broiled them till browned. This way you can control how much of the fat from them goes into the sauce. But into the sauce is where they went. Now at this point I let them simmer for a couple more hours over very low heat, stirring frequently. See, I made this on my day off and I enjoy spending all day stirring things. I really do. But if you wanted to do this faster you could cut out a lot of simmering time. Next we just toasted some little rolls, I melted mozzarella on mine, and made sandwiches. Meatball sandwiches are the bomb. How about it kids, do you like meatballs? What kind? On pasta, in sandwiches, calzones or straight up, maybe with a toothpick?

22 comments:

Goldie said...

OMG, that is so weird--I just made spaghetti & meatballs for dinner last night! I was half asleep after napping on the couch (tired from new strength training routine) and decided it sounded like a good meal idea. I completely missed the fact that I had used ground beef and not ground turkey! LOL! I'll have it posted in the next few days...
Those sandwiches look YUMMY!!! How spicy is the Italian sausage, though?

The Duo Dishes said...

MMMMMM. Put them on some nice crusty bread! Or cover with cheese...on pizza. Or bake with pasta. Who cares! They're good. :)

Jenn said...

Hellooooo, meatballs. Mind making me one of those delicious looking sammies???

Bob said...

Goldie: Ha! Awesome. The sausages I used are sweet ones, not spicy at all. If my girlfriend wasn't eating them I'd have used as spicy a sausage as I could get.

Duo: Want to know something funny? As I was reading your comment I was eating a slice of pizza I made with these meatballs. Seriously.

Jenn: I would if there were any left, but I put the rest on that pizza! Heh.

Karen said...

Ok, I have to ask... what does the 93% mean? Is that 93% fat or 7% fat? Meatballs look good... I love them with spaghetti.

vanillasugarblog said...

to me, this is the ULTIMATE comfort food. especially when the meatballs are perfect. I love this.

Hungry Dog said...

I want some of these. Where do you live? New England? Guess I can't raid your house. ok, I'll make 'em myself. Love the broiling idea...that's always what I get bogged down with with meatballs. Yours look awesome.

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

More than kick Arse... These are terrific, and a great recipe with great photos.. love your site, thanks for posting

Palidor said...

I'm shaking my head because there's no labelling like that in Ontario. I wish there was! We have labels of extra lean, lean, and medium.

Anyway... excuse my little rant. The meatball subs look fantastic! I love all the sauce on it. Messy to eat, but delicious!

Bob said...

Karen: It's 7% fat, so very lean for ground beef. Mmmm, spaghetti.

Dawn: Thanks! Yeah, meatballs are way up there.

Hungry Dog: Heh, your raid would be frustrated by me having finished them off anyway. But I could always make more. ;)

Year on the Grill: Wow, thanks!

Palidor: Thanks! Heh, don't be too jealous, I think we only have one more grade. Theres 93, 90, 85 and 80. So for something like this I would just grab extra lean.

Wandering Coyote said...

Beautiful job! The sub looks like something I could totally go for right now!

Dewi said...

Meat ball sandwich so unique and delicious Bob! Pretty creative.

Steph said...

I think meatball subs are the best! I've never made my own before because my meatballs turned into ground beef the last time I tried.

DutchBakerGirl said...

Great looking meatballs, Bob!(don't take that out of context,lol) They sure beat the stuff I used frozen from the bag. The sandwich looks sublime and I seriously picture it on the pizza. Yum!

Anonymous said...

Oh be still my heart. I could so go for one of those right now. And pass me a straw will ya? that sauce is to die for!

Heather S-G said...

I ADORE meatball subs...or spag & meatballs or swedish meatballs or meatballs on my pizza or meatballs in au jus...mmmmm...meatballs!

Reeni said...

I love meatballs everywhere! These looks really good with sausage in them! They would be awesome in a calzone or stromboli.

Anonymous said...

I want this sandwich in my hands - like NOW

Can't wait to make this.

Thanks for the post

Unknown said...

how funny...my daughter and I were talking about meatball sammies just this morning. I told her I'd make ground turkey meatball sammies for dinner one night this week!! LOL. Guess it must be something in the air. They look great!

Kate at Serendipity said...

Oh, pooh. I KNOW I wrote something on this... Your sandwich looks so good! I would love to be able to find Italian sausage here... But I can probably come up with a good substitute. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I love meatballs in different ways! But my family doesn't like tomato sauce too much so we always have Swedish meatballs w/mashed potatoes.

Spryte said...

Meatball is my FAVORITE sub!

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