THE Sauce with Meatballs

This is THE sauce that I grew up with and is a recipe handed down through the generations but perfected by my mother (who also happens to be a phenomenal cook and taught me most of what I know).
I call it THE sauce and once you try it you will see why. It is an ideal recipe because once you get everything in the crock pot it just cooks away for hours. I defy you to find a more tender and rich meatball. This has to be one of my favorite dishes and I know that when I visit my parents or vice versa there is always a pot simmering away.

Here is what you will need:

For the sauce: 2 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes 1 small can of tomato paste 2 or 3 gloves of garlic finely chopped ½ or ¾ dry red wine ¼ cup of chopped fresh basil Salt and pepper to taste For the meatballs: 1 ½ lb. ground sirloin ½ lb. ground pork ½ lb. ground veal ½ cup seasoned GF bread crumbs (Use your favorite type of plain and just season with a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic power) 2 large eggs ⅓ cup fresh (Italian parsley) flat leaf 1 tbsp. garlic powder Salt and pepper to taste ½ to ¾ cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Let’s get prepping:

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs. Mix well being sure to incorporate all of the ingredients. You want the mixture to be moist but not wet. Too wet and they will fall apart, too dry and they will be tough. Set the mix aside.

Let’s get cooking:

Put the ingredients for the sauce in the crock pot on high. Form the meat mixture into balls about the size of a small Mackintosh apple (or the inside of your hand cupped). When sauce reaches temperature and is hot put the meatballs in raw and cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours (smaller meatballs take less time to cook). Once they are cooked remove them from the pot. Set the pot to low and cook the sauce for 5 to 6 hours. Put the meatballs back into the sauce for the last hour. If you leave the meatballs in the sauce the entire time they will absorb to much of the sauce and it will ruin them. Also, when you save any leftover sauce and meatballs be sure to separate them to maintain the integrity of the meatballs.

Serve these with your choice of GF pasta (I found that Bionaturae tastes the most like the real thing). Buon appetito!