Meat-a-ball Marinara!
August 25, 2017
This is one of my son's favourite meals, but I warn you: It's gonna take over 2 hours.
You can always make the marinara sauce and save it for later. Your choice.
Here goes:
Tools: An immersion blender,
regular blender, or food processor
Ingredients:
Meatballs of your choosing
(We use beef ones that are already formed in balls.
Make sure there is no added flour or bread crumbs,
which happens with ready-made meatballs sometimes.)
3 Tbsp of Olive oil
1 onion (I use red onions)
3-5 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
+/- 10 tomatoes, chopped
(It is best to get tomatoes that are not too watery)
(It is best to get tomatoes that are not too watery)
A handful of leaves of fresh basil
1 tsp of oregano or Italian seasoning
1 tsp of red pepper flakes
A few pinches of sea salt
Grated SCD-legal cheese
(Swiss works great. NO MOZZARELLA! List of 24 SCD legal cheeses here.)
Parmesan (optional)
Directions for Sauce:
- Saute onions in olive oil over medium heat in a large, deep pan. Stir for about 7 minutes.
- Chop or press the garlic and add to the pan for an additional minute or two, stirring.
- Add the 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar and simmer until the liquid is mostly evaporated. Keep stirring so the garlic and onions do not burn.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and stir in a pinch of sea salt, the tsp of oregano, and the tsp of red pepper flakes.
- Reduce heat to low and cover the pan for 15 minutes.
- Uncover and continue to cook on low for 1 hour stirring every 10 min or so.
- Using your immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor, blend the mixture with the basil leaves until you get a smooth, but thick texture. Do not over blend. *If your blender cannot handle piping hot liquid, you may need to remove pan from heat for a while to cool first.
- Return to pan and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. (Start prepping the meatballs and turn on the oven now. See below.)
- Taste the sauce and add more salt, red pepper flakes, or seasoning if you wish as it's simmering.
Directions for Meatballs:
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F.
- Brown meatballs in a separate pan. Be sure to turn them so they don't overcook on any side.
- When the meatballs are browned, remove to a plate lined in paper towels and pat off any grease.
- Combine the sauce and meatballs in a baking dish (preferably glass), making sure to toss the meatballs well in the sauce.
- Cook uncovered for 20 minutes, then remove and add the shredded cheese.
- Cook another 10 minutes.
- Optional: Add parmesan once removed.
- Serve with a side of SCD-legal veggies and enjoy!
To make more sauce to have some left over, double or triple the amount of tomatoes and increase the other ingredients. (You don't need to double everything, honestly. I'm not someone who overly measures what I cook, so I just add to taste.) BUT REMEMBER that the more tomatoes, the longer it will need to simmer during the 1 hour and 30 minute periods to stay thick enough.
You can store extra sauce in the fridge for about a week, or in the freezer for 3-6 months.
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