Ricotta Meatballs
By: Giangi Townsend
Published: Sunday, December 9, 2018 - 1:57pm

Ingredients




FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and end removed
1 28-ounces San Marzano Tomatoes (crushed or pureed)
Salt
Pepper
FOR THE MEATBALLS
1 pound ground pork
3/4 cup whole milk ricotta
1/2 cup fine grated Parmiggiano Cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 large egg
2 heaping tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
Salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Preparation

1 PREPARING THE TOMATO SAUCE 2 In a saucepan over medium high heat, add the olive oil and the garlic. As soon as the garlic is golden, remove and discard. 3 Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook over medium low heat for about 25-30 minutes. 4 PREPARING THE MEATBALLS 5 Preheat the oven at 375 6 Mix all the ingredients by hand or in the KitchenAid mixer with the paddle. Roll out 12 meatballs. 7 Place them on greased baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or golden brown. 8 Can be served alongside any pasta of choice. Cook pasta according to manufacturer directions. Mix the meatballs with the tomato sauce and pasta. Serve hot with freshly grated Parmiggiano cheese over it.

About

I love when first thing in the morning I open my computer, go the news and there sits a fantastic recipe. Read the title, admire and droll over the stunning picture. Get side tracked by something and promise myself to get back to the page as soon as I can. And, of course, you cannot find the recipe again because the page updated. Doing a search is near impossible at this point.  This is how this recipe came about. Reading the first two lines of it and then the abyss of the unknown..
Seeing that I am a bit familiar with meatballs, I had fun combining the first two ingredients that I read with my staple recipe.  However, instead of frying the meatballs on the stove, I decided to baked them. The result was fantastic, less greasy and lot faster. Worth mentioning: they did not fall apart in the oven.
We are hooked and decided to enjoy them over a bed of Mezzi Rigatoni pasta. We also had them warm up with a salad for lunch and they were delicious.
TIP: Be careful with the salt when you are seasoning. Not all Parmiggiano cheese is the same and you do not want to over salt your meat.