That is real Parmesan, I put it through a mini food processor and now it looks like the canned stuff!
Dearest Ava recommended this Jamie Oliver’s Meatballs and Pasta recipe after she made it and posted her photograph to The Food Network Site. Considering she is Italian and said that this recipe tasted like the real deal, I just had to try it.
The meatballs were not difficult or super time consuming. I did have to crush up some of my own saltine crackers but that was no big deal. In a bowl you put some fresh chopped rosemary, the cracker crumbs, dijon mustard, ground beef, oregano, an egg and some salt and pepper. This makes 24 meatballs. I made them ahead of time and then threw them in the fridge until I was ready to make the sauce.
In some oil you saute the meatballs on all sides until they brown. Jamie says they will be done in 8-10 minutes. I knew that was not going to be the case, it never is. So instead of cooking them after I started working on the sauce I made them first and then put them in a 325F oven to cook through while I made the sauce.
I used shallots instead of onion and sauteed for a few minutes. Then I added garlic and red pepper flakes since chilies are too hot for me.
I threw in some fresh chopped basil, drizzled in balsamic vinegar and added a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes. This is where my heart sank. It was looking really watery and those tomatoes were really firm, they were not going to soften up by the time the pasta was done.
I put the meatballs into the “sauce” and cooked everything hard while I made the pasta.
The results? My husband put it best. “I think I would like this better… if it had a sauce!”
There was no sauce to speak of. Not really. Just a bunch of tomatoes on top and this watery broth. Now the meatballs were fantastic! Soft, light, easy to cut with a fork. I loved those. This recipe is hard to review. I would give the sauce one spoon out of five and the meatballs five out of five, therefore, I give this recipe three out of five wooden spoons.
I have made four homemade spaghetti sauces in the last month or so and I will be honest, they all disappointed me. I guess people do not make sauces with crushed tomatoes and tomato paste anymore. They are all too light and thin for me. That is not a sauce!
Thankfully I had a lot of leftover meatballs so I will make this again for dinner tonight but with Prego. It is one of the few packaged foods that tastes better than homemade. I bet with these meatballs dinner is going to be out of this world.
Sorry Ava! I really wish I liked the whole dish. That said, those meatballs are fantastic and I will be making them again. Thank you so much for the inspiration.
Congrats on the tastey meatballs.. so sorry about the sauce. The ingredients looked good but I can understand why it went watery as I’ve done the same thing. I find crushed tomatoes tend to work better and go ahead and add some paste. Your recipe is almost there, it just needs a thicker sauce, eh?
Oh Suzie, sorry to hear the sauce disappointed, I know how important the sauce is for you. I think that’s what I liked about this one is that it was a little lighter than my usual. The balsamic also added a unique flavour as well. I find the tomatoes cook faster and the water evaporates more quickly if you take a potato masher to them a few times while they are cooking, it helps to break them up a little more and makes them runnier and that will give your pasta a little more coverage. Adding Prego is a great idea, it’s actually my favourite jar choice as well. Those are fantastic meatballs though, glad you enjoyed them. As usual your photo makes it all look so yummy and appetizing. Well I hope you enjoy round two better with the Prego, those meatballs taste fantastic the day after as well.
I found it was not “saucey” enough either when we made it with Les Petits Chefs. But it’s good to try new stuff, right? My little chefs loved them!
Sarah, next time it’s crushed tomatoes all the way with some paste, totally agree.
Oh Ava, I feel so bad! Well I did love the meatballs, they were fantastic. I tried the potato masher and it didn’t work, they were so tough, they just would not break down. I’m sure I will be in love with this dinner tonight when I cook them with Prego. Yum!
Mardi, thanks for letting me know I wasn’t alone with the sauce issue, that helps a lot.
I’ve been looking for a good meatball recipe, and this one looks good. I want to make up some meatballs and then freeze them (fully cooked) so that we can pull them out at a moment’s notice and have a quick dinner. We used to buy pre-cooked meatballs in the store, but have had no luck finding ones we like recently. So, homemade it is!
If I use canned, diced tomatoes in a sauce, I always drain a little of the liquid out and whiz them for a second or two in the blander. Plus paste!!!
*blender*
The meatball recipe looks good, I would advise looking for a nice italian tomato, a San Marazano tomato, whole in puree, and crush them up by hand, Start with your sauteed onions and garlic add the tomatoes , fresh chopped basil, salt and pepper to taste, we do throw a little bit of sugar in too..If you let this cook for about an hour it should thicken up nicely!
Thanks to your review, I used crushed tomatoes and the sauce was good. I had my doubts about using diced anyway. I also only used one rosemary sprig after reading somewhere else that 4 made it “taste like a Christmas tree”. I found the rosemary to be strong even with only one sprig. Thanks for the review!