Meatballs in Chunky Tomato Sauce

I know most of you probably have cooked meatballs at least once in your lifetime. But lemme share with you the recipe I grew up with. Back when I was little, sweet and sour meatballs is all I knew. It's one of my faves from my father. When started to learn cooking, I imitated how he does it. But now, I thought maybe I could tweak it a bit to give the meat more oomph and flavor.

The process would start with my father having all the vegetables (one large skinned carrot, one large celery stalk, one large peeled red onion and 5-6 cloves of garlic) grinded with a kilo of lean beef. Well, that's him. My way? I grate the carrots, mince the onion, crush the garlic and finely chop the celery.

One they are mixed thoroughly, add three medium eggs and season with salt and pepper. As for me, I opted to include one tablespoon of paprika, half tablespoon of chili powder and a few dashes of nutmeg. Mix them well.

Before you mold the meat into balls (about the size of a golf ball), I suggest that you "test" the taste first. Simply, coat a pan with olive oil. Once hot, fry about a teaspoon of the meat. This way, you'd be able to adjust the taste.

Deep fry the meatballs over low-medium fire.

Let's do the sauce while waiting for the balls, shall we? In a sauce pan, sautee one medium diced white onion in olive oil over medium. Add 500-600 grams largely chopped tomatoes (deseeded), mix and cover for about two minutes. Add 2/3 cup stock and 500 grams tomato paste. Lower the fire and cover the pan. Let it simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper. I would prefer to include a teaspoon of crushed basil. Cover again and let it simmer until the sauce thickens.

Once ready, just pour the sauce onto the meatballs. Serve hot.

Happy eating!

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