Mom's Meatballs and Sauce

First you start out with about four fresh garlic cloves and a large onion. Cut into small pieces.


Beat two eggs in a large bowl. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Then you add enough grated parmesan or romano cheese to make a paste.

It should look like this.

Next you will add some dried parsley and then the onions and the garlic. Mix with a fork.

Add 2lbs of ground beef and mix together.

Take about five pieces of bread and let them get stale on the counter over night.

Wet about two pieces at a time and squeeze out most of the water.

Break it apart with your fingers and throw into the meat mixture.

The fun part begins. Mix with your hands until everything is mixed well.

Make the meatballs and put them on a plate.

Add a generous amount of vegetable oil to a large (I like nonstick) frypan. Let the oil get nice and hot on medium. Add the meatballs and let them fry until dark on both sides.

They should be this dark.

Drain on paper towels.

Cut up another large onion and fry in the oil. When about this color, drain the oil.

Add the meatballs and the onions to about 5-6 15oz cans of tomato sauce. I usually use Hunt's. Then I sprinkle some salt into the sauce.

That's it? Yes. That's it. We don't add any Italian Seasoning, or any other spice. The crisply fried meatballs and onions will flavor the sauce. Simmer for about three hours. After about two and a half hours I add about one and a half tablespoons of sugar.

Then I remove the meatballs and put them in a bowl to serve. I made my sauce with spaghetti. Add as much sauce as you like and yum! I froze the rest of my sauce leftover in a freezer bag.

Yesterday I decided to throw on a pot of sauce and meatballs. This is my mom's recipe that she has been making forever. She says this was the way my grandma made it too. Both my mom's parent's were Italian. I never got to meet my Grandma, but I get to make some of her recipes and that makes me happy.

My mom usually makes this sauce and meatballs with baked ziti on Christmas or whenever relatives come to visit. It's everyone's favorite!

This is the kind of recipe where my mom says, "I add a little of this, a little of that....." There are no measurements. I added captions to the pictures to show you exactly how we make it. I hope you enjoy it!