(prep time: 30 minutes, cooking time: minimum of 1-2 hours, can simmer all day)
Sauce: 1 pound lean ground round or ground turkey 1 large onion, chopped 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce 2 (4 ounce) cans tomato paste 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 Tablespoon dried oregano, or to taste 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar Meatballs: 1 pound lean ground round or ground turkey ½ onion, minced 1 garlic clove, minced 1 teaspoon, dried oregano ½ teaspoon salt 2 Tablespoons ketchup 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1. In a large stock pot, brown meat with chopped onion. You will have more flavor if you really brown the meat. 2. Add rest of sauce ingredients to browned meat and cook over medium low, stirring occasionally 3. Meanwhile, mix all meatball ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Using your hands, make 1” sized meatballs and drop uncooked meatballs into the sauce. Stir very gently between additions. Continue this until all meat has been formed into meatballs and placed in stockpot. Cook mixture on medium for 15 minutes or until sauce is well heated 4. Partially cover the stockpot and continue to let the sauce and meatballs simmer on low for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally. 5. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Serve over pastaMake ahead notes: I always triple or quadruple this and freeze in small portions. For some reason there usually aren’t enough meatballs left to freeze, so I make more when sauce is thawed and reheated. Servings – 8-10
