Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs

I made these meatballs and sauce for meatball bombers.  I don't think I will ever buy a jar of spaghetti sauce ever again.  This was so easy and delicious!  I doubled the sauce recipe so I could freeze some for later.  I didn't have to double the meatballs because it made plenty.

Sauce:
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 TBS olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Meatballs:
4 slices white bread, torn into pieces
1/2 cup water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound lean ground beef or ground chuck
2 tsp olive oil

In a large saucepan, cook onion in oil until tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, soak bread in water for 5 minutes.  Squeeze out excess liquid.  In a large bowl, combine the eggs, Parmesan, garlic, basil, parsley, salt and bread.  Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.  (go ahead and use your hands)  Shape into 1 to 1 1/2  inch balls.  Because I was making the meatballs for bombers, I made them about 1 1/2 inches (the meatballs will shrink a little when cooked).  I used a large Pampered Chef scoop (about 3 TBS) and made 20 meatballs. 

In a large nonstick skillet, add 2 tsp of oil.  Brown the meatballs in batches over medium heat. Continue to turn the meatballs so they are browned completely.  Be gentle as the meatballs are very tender.

Remove the meatballs from the skillet.  Drain the fat.  Return meatballs to the skillet.  Cover with the sauce.  Return to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until meatballs are no longer pink.  Gently, stir occasionally.  You may need to add a little water if the sauce gets too thick.   However, make sure you don't break up the meatballs.   If all of your sauce does not fit in the skillet with the meatballs, just simmer the remaining sauce in the other saucepan.  (The original recipe said to add the meatballs to the pot of sauce.  However, I modified the recipe and simmered some sauce separately with the meatballs because the meatballs were so tender and I didn't want them to fall apart in a large pot of sauce.)  

You may serve over the top of pasta or serve on toasted bomber buns as I did.  Sprinkle meatballs bombers with shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Source:  Light And Tasty - June/July 2006 (revised)

Janice