The Story
Here’s one that comes from the heart. This is our signature family sugo: meatballs in tomato sauce. It’s the sauce that bubbled away quietly in the background every Sunday, filling the house with delicious anticipation; it’s the sauce that simply holds everything together. In fact, when I talk about pasta and what it means to me, this is the sugo that I think of. Pair it with our spinach fettuccine, as we always served it, and you have the ultimate comfort food.
Little Al is primary stirrer for this dish, and also provides valuable quality control as the sauce cooks, so while he’s busy handling that I’ll give you a run down on how to make this delicious but simple sauce for yourself. Meatballs have been rolled in this house for as long as pasta, so it’s a strange experience for me to actually write down a recipe for it… But here goes!
The Sauce
First things first, this sauce is all about the soffritto. You put in the time and care at the beginning, and you will be rewarded with a better product down the line. Just like raising children. I must insist that anyone following this recipe gives the onion and garlic 30 minutes on the lowest heat, stirring constantly, until it’s translucent. You also need lots of olive oil. As in, put in what you think will be enough, and then look the other way as you splash in a good glug more (this is why we buy in bulk). Think of olive oil as a beautiful ingredient in its own right, not just some sucker that you fry other ingredients in. And start it all in a cold pot! Don’t ask me why – it just works. If you’re serious about your slow-cooked flavour, we recommend investing in an enamelled cast iron pot – you just can’t beat the taste. Now, it’s likely not a real cooking technique, but I also often take my soffritto off the heat entirely a few times as I cook it. The sweating and resting without heat seems to help it along. But I can’t support that with science.
Once my soffritto’s ready, I raise the temperature, and bruise and throw in my basil. We used to drop the basil in after the tomatoes, but I think you get a slightly punchier flavour if it fries quickly. Add in your passata with a good pinch of salt, and a good pinch of sugar. If you’ve done the right thing by yourself and those about to eat your pasta, then you’ll see the oil nicely separated from the sauce. Give it a good stir and then cover to bring to a gentle boil.
For the meatballs, just throw everything in a bowl and get in there with your hands. We like to mince our own pork and beef, as it allows us to choose the best meat. Often we’ll grab a big piece, cut off some chunks or steaks, grind some mince, and make a broth with the bones. Grab yourself a Kitchenaid grinder attachment and you’ll never be disappointed to find the butcher’s out of mince.
Knead the meatball mix like dough, and let it squeeze between your fingers. This time around I didn’t have breadcrumbs so I soaked a piece of freshly baked bread in water. Because I also didn’t have milk. It’s arrangiarsi, leave me alone.
To shape the meatballs, give them a firm squeeze between your cupped hands and compress the ingredients together. Then roll and turn them gently in your palms until they’re smooth spheres.
Now, I don’t fry or brown my meatballs at all, I just drop them into the sauce. I know it’s controversial, but that’s how we like it. Then gently rotate the pot back and forth like a steering wheel to let the meatballs settle (I don’t like to get the wooden spoon in there until the meatballs have firmed up a bit), and leave it to simmer for as long as possible, at least 3.5 hours. Check in regularly with a stir. You’ll know you’ve nailed it when you peer in and see delicious separation between tomato and oil. Yep, that is the business.
Always use lots of water when you’re cooking your pasta (so that you maintain the boil when you add the pasta) and remember to salt it. Drop the pasta in and test a piece when it’s all floating comfy at the surface. It shouldn’t have any white showing on the inside (but only just) and should have a nice firm al dente bite to it. Always stir the sauce through the pasta before plating, and don’t forget plenty of hard aged cheese on top!
Make it with care and love, and enjoy your meal!
– Al & Al.
Equipment
- Enamelled cast iron pot (or large regular pot)
- Kitchenaid food grinder (if grinding your own mince)
Ingredients
- 2 800ml bottles of passata or equivalent of tinned tomatoes
- 500 g pork mince
- 500 g veal or beef mince
- 1 cup breadcrumbs or one large slice of bread soaked in milk and drained/squeezed
- 1/2 cup romano or parmesan cheese or similar hard cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 onion diced
- 1 head of garlic minced
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil more if you really want to treat yourself
- 1 small handful of basil
- 1 small handful of parsley (we prefer curly-leaf rather than flat for this recipe)
- salt and pepper to season
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Into a cold pot, add the onion and half of the minced garlic, with the olive oil. Place on to very low heat, and stir gently but continuously for 30 minutes. Don't let the onion brown. You're ready for the next step when the onion is sweaty and translucent.
- Bruise the basil in your hand, and then add to the pot. Let it fry gently for 2-3 minutes until it turns a vibrant green.
- Pour in your passata, and then half fill the bottle (or tins) with water. Slosh around to collect the last of the tomato juice out, and then add that water into the pot.
- Add the sugar and a good pinch of salt to the sauce, stir, and then increase the heat to medium.
- For the meatballs, place into a large bowl the pork and beef mince, breadcrumbs, cheese, eggs, the other half of the minced garlic, the parsley, and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Get in there with your hands and knead for a few minutes, allowing the mix to squeeze through your fingers.
- With this amount of mix, I usually make 20-22 meatballs, but you can make more or less depending on how large you'd like them to be. Compress them into rough balls, and then roll, turn and squeeze them into smooth meatballs using your palms. Transfer to a baking paper lined tray and refrigerate until required.
- Once the sauce is at a gentle boil, drop the meatballs straight in. Try to avoid stirring with a wooden spoon until they've firmed up – I grab the pot by the handles and gently rotate it back and forth to let the meatballs settle.
- Set to low heat, and cook for at least 3.5 hours. Stir regularly, keeping an eye on the liquid levels and making sure that it doesn't catch. If it gets too dry, just top it up with water and try lowering the heat further. It's ready when it's turned a dark red with oily patches (and tastes incredible!).
- Serve with copious amounts of cheese (romano for the win). And also pasta (we highly recommend eating it the way our family always has: with our spinach fettuccine)!
Thanks for this recipe – it turned out very well! I did make a few changes due to lack of time, but my family and I really loved the meatballs and sauce, and served it with pasta, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes on top. Yum!
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it! We still have this most weekends 😊
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it, and I like the addition of red pepper flakes!