The Ultimate Weeknight Hero: One-Pan Classic Meatballs in a Rich Tomato Sauce
You’ll never want to have another dinner option after this recipe.
When it comes to cooking at home, it’s comfort food recipes that are brought up at once, with some of those telling how to make the most delicious meatballs in tomato sauce in just half an hour.
Another big advantage is that extra meatballs can be easily put in the freezer until you start craving for them once again, thus letting you have some rest from cooking. Once you try those, you might not be able to stop anymore.
Ingredients: 0.5 kg of ground beef or pork-beef blend, 1 egg, ½ of a large onion, 200 g of chopped fresh tomatoes, 1 tsp of spices (ground pepper, dried garlic to taste), 1.5 tsp of salt (heaped), fresh herbs for garnish.
For tomato sauce: ½ of a large onion, 1 medium clove of garlic, 2 tbsp of oil (olive or refined sunflower), 1 cup of broth (if you don’t have it, you can use vegetable stock or plain water), 1 teaspoon of spices (optional), 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, ½ teaspoon of sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt.
Dice the onion and tomato. Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the diced onion until translucent. Add the chopped tomato to the fried onion and let the liquid evaporate a little. Add half of the necessary spices and salt, stir, and remove from heat.
Add the prepared onion-tomato mixture, the egg, the remaining spices, and salt to the ground meat, then knead the mixture well by hand.
Prepare the sauce: peel the onion and garlic, chop finely, and fry in preheated oil; add tomato paste, salt, and spices.
Pour the fried mixture into the pot where the meatballs will be cooked (a deep skillet will also work), then add the broth. Stir the sauce and let it simmer over low heat.
Using your hands, shape the prepared ground meat into small balls, pressing them together slightly, and carefully lower them into the boiling sauce using a spoon. Simmer the meatballs in the sauce for 20–30 minutes.
Sprinkle with chopped herbs before serving.
