When you order meatballs in a restaurant, do you feel like you need to talk with your hands? Make a Marlon Brando, Godfather-like grimace? Do you crave the perfect silky, meaty, juicy, luscious, DREAMY Italian meatball? Well then, this is gonna get your attention quick. Course 3 in this week’s Italian Wine Dinner menu? Veal Meatballs in Chianti Sauce <gleeful shudder>. They’re so good, they’ll make you wanna binge-watch every mafia movie ever made.
As I mentioned earlier this week, I found this recipe with some other great dishes awhile back when I was feeling particularly ambitious about embarking on a multi-course Italian wine dinner. And MAN was this a good choice. The beauty of these meatballs is that even though I’m pairing them with other courses for an over-the-top meal, they would serve you just as well as a meal all on their own. Toss over some pasta, and you won’t have to eat for a week. A deep hibernation caused by great Italian meatballs–I could sign up for that.
Now, I know that some have a problem with veal. I get it. I do. But in this day and age, it is easy (well, easier) to find humanely raised veal. If you still don’t want to use it, no problem. I have also made these with just the beef and pork, and they are equally good. No harm, no foul, but still good news for your mouth.
And since this is a wine-pairing dinner, and these are made with Chianti, it stands to reason that serving these with a good Chianti is the way to go. I mentioned one of my favorites at the beginning of this Italian meal tirade on Monday, and I stand by that recommendation. I would choose one of the more basic Chiantis (read: less expensive) of this particular wine for the sauce, and then step up the bottle for drinking with dinner.
This time of year when the clouds will not part on their own, these beautiful little gems will part them for you, shining down rays of delciousness on a cold and dreary day. Buon Appetito!
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 30 meatballs (or about 8 people) | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 2 1/2 hours | 90 minutes |
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These are truly the best meatballs I have ever had. And I have to admit, I've had many varieties over the years (OK, I just realized that sounded dirty, but really not what I meant!). You can really taste the wine without "tasting: the wine, if that makes any sense. The slow roasting of the sauce cooks off most of the alcohol, leaving behind the richness of the grapes to co-mingle with the tomatoes and other flavors. While it takes a bit of time to make these (OK, it's an afternoon of pouring your love into this recipe), it's worth every minute. It really is a beautiful dish--but not too beautiful not to eat them up!
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- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (in this case, the store bought ones work best)
- 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 1/2 lb. ground beef (ground chuck is the preferred beef here)
- 1/2 lb. ground veal (see notes section if you choose not to use veal)
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika (use regular paprika if you can't find smoked)
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
- 2 tbsp. finely chopped sage
- 3/4 cups finely diced or grated yellow onion (grated works best for this recipe if you have a box grater handy)
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced or grated
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (use fresh if possible rather than the bottled stuff)
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- olive oil
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 cups red wine (I use a Chianti since that is what I drink with the meal)
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth (you can use chicken broth as an alternative here)
- 1 32 oz. can whole plum San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 4-inch sprig fresh rosemary
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
- In a small bowl, pour milk over breadcrumbs. Stir together and set aside for about 10 minutes.
- Using your hands (it's the best tool for the job here!), mix pork, beef, and veal together in a large mixing bowl. Mix in salt and pepper, then paprika and cayenne. Next, mix in parsley, sage, onion, garlic and Parmesan. Mix thoroughly with your hands to incorporate all of the ingredients, but careful not to overwork the meat as it could become tough when cooked.
- Stir in breadcrumbs and milk mixture, as well as eggs. Mix thoroughly.
- Shape meatballs immediately into 1 1/2 - 2 inch balls, placing on parchment paper-covered baking sheet. See recipe note below for options if you are not cooking them immediately.
- Heat large dutch oven over medium high heat (it needs to be big enough to hold the sauce AND the meatballs when finished). Saute onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste and fry it for about a minutes, stirring until incorporated. Pour wine and broth into pot and bring to a simmer. At that point, add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and rosemary sprig. Cook for 45-60 minutes until the sauce has developed a deep, rich flavor. Remove from heat, remove rosemary stem, and puree with an immersion blender (or in batches in a standing blender) until smooth.
- Place meatballs (still raw) in the pan of sauce and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook on low for 30-45 minutes, or until meatballs are fully cooked through (no longer pink inside).
- Serve as their own course, or over a starch like pasta or polenta. Add a glass of great Chianti, and everyone's happy!
OK, so I have several notes for you on this one.
1. As mentioned at the beginning of this long recipe, if you object to (or can't find) veal, you can simply increase the amounts of the beef and pork to 3/4 lb. each to make up the difference.
2. For the meatballs, you can make them ahead of time and freeze them (uncooked) for up to a month. You can also make them a couple hours ahead and simply refrigerate them until you're ready to drop them in the sauce.
3. Also with the meatballs, this recipe makes a lot of them. Go with it. The fully-cooked ones, with the sauce, also freeze very well. Make the full amount and any extra meatballs are ready for when you need a hearty and easy dinner at your fingertips (and in your freezer).
4. Full disclosure on the wine I recommend here--we stayed at this fantastic vineyard called Fattoria Viticchio when we went to Tuscany a couple years ago. It was a perfect location for exploring the rest of Tuscany, and of course, the wine was so darned good. We are very lucky that stores like Total Wine and other large distributors carry many of their wines, so we can have a flashback to that trip any time we want.
5. For the sauce, the immersion blender will be your best friend if you have one handy. Don't have one yet? Check out this one. It's one of my two that I have on hand (yes, I have two. So what??).
I love meatballs and these look especially delicious! And meatballs make great leftovers!
My mother (and than me) has made a voitarian of this recipe for years. It is awesome. We add lemon juice and a few pieces of crystalized ginger to the sauce. We actually let the sauce simmer for a while than just dump it on the meatballs. I do not acutally measure the ketchup and brown sugar, but go by color and taste ( the sauce is on the browner side). I always make the meatballs from scratch, I think they are better that way. Now I am craving them.
LOVE meatballs. These look wonderful. The chianti sauce take them over the top. Comfort food at its best. 🙂
We enjoyed meatballs for lunch today actually. I love making huge batches of them because meatballs make for some quick dinner meals if they are already baked. Thank you for the new recipe to try.
These look absolutely amazing! A good, hearty homestyle Italian red sauce is one of my favorite things in life. I love the addition of the smoked paprika and cayenne for some kick. These are definitely in my future!
I just ordered the ingredients from amazon fresh. That’s how good this sounds. And it just started snowing. Happy Saturday indeed.
Let me know how it turns out for you! It’s one of my favorites on a cold day!