Beef and Mortadella Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
 
 
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Tomato sauce:
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 stalk celery, finely diced
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • ½ cup tomato paste
  • 1 28 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes, pulsed in a food processor until coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
Meatballs:
  • 1 pound ground beef (20% fat)
  • 8 ounces mortadella, cut into ¼" cubes
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • ⅓ cup fresh bread crumbs (see notes)
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • finely grated Parmesan cheese (for topping)
Instructions
Make the tomato sauce:
  1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until tomato paste begins to darken, about 4 minutes.
  3. Add tomatoes and heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
Make the meatballs:
  1. Combine all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands. Form into 1½" balls.
  2. Bring sauce to a simmer over low heat. Nestle meatballs in sauce, cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese.
Notes
To make fresh bread crumbs, place a few bread chunks in a food processor and pulse to the desired crumb size. You can use almost any kind of bread; I usually have random pieces of bread in the freezer that I defrost, toast and cool before pulsing.
Recipe by Two of a Kind at http://www.twoofakindcooks.com/beef-and-mortadella-meatballs-in-tomato-sauce/