| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 50 min |
| Prep: | 25 min |
| Cook: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
- 2 small to medium yellow onion, 1 grated and 1 finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped, divided
- 1 egg
- 1/2 to 2/3 cup Italian bread crumbs, a couple of overflowing handfuls
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus some to pass at table
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice or nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped sage leaves, 4 to 6 sprigs
- A couple generous handfuls flat-leaf parsley, chopped, divided
- Salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
- 1 pound bucatini (thick, hollow spaghetti)
- 1/4 pound pancetta, chopped
- 12 baby portobello caps, (crimini mushrooms), chopped
- 1/2 cup dry red wine, eyeball it
- 1 cup, (8 ounces), beef stock
- 1 (28-ounce), can crushed tomatoes, Sam Marzano if available
Instructions
- Preheat 400 degrees F. Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Mix meat with the grated onion, 3 cloves chopped garlic, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, allspice, capers, sage, a handful of the chopped parsley, salt and pepper and a healthy drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Mix meat, score the meat into 4 sections and make 3 very large balls from each section. Arrange the 12 balls on a nonstick cookie sheet and roast 15 minutes until firm but not hard.
- Drop bucatini in salted boiling water to cook off. Drain.
- Add another tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet and the pancetta. Cook 3 to 4 minutes then add the remaining garlic and mushrooms to the pan and cook 5 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Add remaining chopped onion and deglaze the pan with wine, cook off 1 minute, add in stock and whisk up remaining drippings. Stir in the tomatoes and season sauce with salt and pepper, if necessary. Stir in parsley. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Toss pasta with half the sauce. Remove balls from oven and add to remaining sauce and turn to coat. Serve large balls, 3 per person, along side pasta. Spoon any remaining sauce over the pasta. Pass extra cheese at the tables.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 1259 |
| Total Fat | 55 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Carbohydrates | 117 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 10 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 67 g |
| Cholesterol | 204 mg |
| Sodium | 1708 mg |
Reviews
Love this recipe and have been making the meatballs for years. A family favorite. I substitute a mixture of ground veal/pork/lamb for the sirloin. My one criticism is the nutritional value does not make any sense. This recipe serves 4 but nutritional value says 1 of 16 servings. So do I multiply posted amounts by 4 to get the correct values? As someone who is trying to count macros this is very frustrating. Please correct the nutritional value
Have been making this for years … Add twice the wine that is called for … and most importantly add the meatballs and all pan drippings INTO the sauce and let simmer all together 1 hour before serving
Was served this dish by daughter-in-law. Loved all the flavors and plan on serving to out of town guests this weekend. I will, however, allow more time for meatballs to cook. Just a bit too rare for my personal preference. Was loved by all and with the hefty amount, the dish was served the next day and the meld of flavors were even better! Great recipe for my recipe box!
Family loved these meatballs! Made them the normal size and the yield was accurate at about a dozen. Added a bit of powdered ancho chili and cumin for a little extra flavor.
Only made the meatballs. They were just “meh”. I omitted the capers, but I don’t think they would have made a huge difference. I had to bake them for 25 minutes to get done. Made 12 huge meatballs. I do think cooking the onions first would have helped.
Excellent. Replaced the pancetta with bacon as it can really handle a hearty flavor
This was really, really good. If I ordered this in a high-end restaurant, I would not have been disappointed. Loved it!
This is my absolute go-to recipe for meatballs. I make a big ol’ batch, freeze most of them, make my favorite sauce and freeze it, and we love it every time. I make them small, I make them big… we love them! Not a great fan of some of Rachel’s “fusion-style” recipes, but this one is a winner.
These taste fabulous! There is a fair amount of effort in getting the meat together, but it’s well worth it. Also, since they cook in the oven, that 15 minutes allows you to get the pasta and sauce together.
I have made this recipe about 4 times and each time it gets tastier. It is such an easy recipe to follow and you can put your own take on it. I omit the capers and it still comes out amazing each time. The meatballs are always tender and juicy. I love this recipe.