Better than Grandma's Baked Italian Meatballs
Melt in your mouth baked italian meatballs
Ingredients
Napolitana style tomato sauce
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 (small) stick of celery, finely diced
- 1 (small) carrot, finely diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 pods of star anise
- 1 anchovy, finely chopped
- 600 ml tomato passata alternatively tinned tomatoes
- 1 tsp sugar or sweetener of choice to taste
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Baked Meatballs
- 250 g ground salsiccia or italian sausage meat alternatively pork sausage
- 250 g beef mince
- 2 thick slices of soft bread
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tsp dried oregano or any dried Italian style herb
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan try not to use the pre-grated variety
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 200 g mozzarella cheese or for a more "melty" cheese use cheddar or gouda
- 1 handful fresh basil leaves to serve
Instructions
Napolitana style tomato sauce
- In a dutch oven, sauté the onion, celery and carrots in olive oil until soft.
- Add the star anise pods, garlic and anchovy and sauté until aromatic.
- Add the tomato passata, sugar and balsamic vinegar. Simmer on low heat to reduce for 15-20 minutes whilst making the meatballs. Stir occasionally to prevent catching.
Baked Italian meatballs
- Preheat oven to 230℃ (450℉).
- Add the beef mince and sausage meat (minus the outer casing) to a medium sized bowl and break up with a fork.
- Add the spices and season with ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper. Mix to combine.
- Remove crusts from bread if desired. Run bread slices under some water to soak and gently squeeze out excess. Place in a bowl and gently break up with a fork (should be a bit chunky).
- Add bread mixture, egg, parmesan and basil to the meat mixture and mix to combine.
- Using wet hands or lightly oiled hands, scoop a heaped tablespoon of meat mixture at a time and roll into a ball. Place onto a silpat or baking paper lined oven tray.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until browned (they do not need to be cooked through as they will still be baked in the tomato sauce).
- Remove star anise pods from tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Turn oven temperature down to 200℃ (400℉).
- Gently place baked meatballs into the tomato sauce. Cover the dutch oven with a lid and place in oven. Bake covered for 25 minutes.
- Remove from oven and add the cheese. Return uncovered to oven for a further 5-10 minutes until cheese has melted.
- Top with picked fresh basil leaves and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Serve spooned over spaghetti or your pasta of choice.
Notes
I love how a hint of star anise brings tomato flavours to a new height. They can be left out if you don't have any lying around. The anchovy is equally optional - trust me you won't taste it at all in the final dish, it just creates a hint of salty umami flavour.
If you don't have a dutch oven or oven-proof dish with a lid, use an appropriately sized baking dish and cover with foil.
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