Meatballs with Tomato Sauce and Polenta / January 26, 2016 by Amy Cantu

We were out of town for two weeks over the holidays, visiting family and friends. So when we returned home an hour before dinnertime, I stared into the cavernous empty fridge and let out a loud groan. Ugggghhh. What are we going to eat?! I started freezer diving, and when I came up for air, I bestowed upon my family the bag of frozen meatballs from Cynthia! (Cue angels singing and bright spotlight on the frozen meatballs.) I fished out a bag of polenta and a can of tomatoes from the pantry, and dinner was on its way. While the meatballs and polenta baked in the oven, I stirred together a simple tomato sauce on the stove. Within an hour, we enjoyed creamy, parmesan polenta, crowned with savory meatballs bathed in a simple tomato sauce. I gave myself a pat on the back, and whispered a silent thank you to Cynthia. Voila! Dinner is served!

Notes: Cynthia's recipe for Swedish Meatballs are spiced mildly enough that when combined with the tomato sauce and polenta, the dish tastes decidedly more Italian than Swedish. If you are starting from scratch and using Cynthia's recipe, you can substitute 1 teaspoon dried oregano for the allspice and nutmeg. Or, feel free to use your own meatball recipe here. To make this an easy vegetarian meal, serve the polenta topped with a runny, fried egg and the tomato sauce - yum!

Read More: The Shared Meatballs

Time: 50 minutes

Serves: 4

20 small meatballs, Cynthia's or your own recipe
1 recipe Simple Tomato Sauce (recipe below)
1 recipe Baked Polenta (recipe below)
Parmesan cheese, grated (optional garnish)
Fresh basil, chiffonade/thinly sliced into ribbons (optional garnish - see photo below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I baked Cynthia’s frozen raw meatballs on a sheet pan, alongside the polenta for the last 35 minutes of cooking. The meatballs were shaped on the smaller side, so make sure to test that your meatballs are cooked through by splitting one open. You could also simmer the meatballs in the tomato sauce, while the polenta is baking in the oven.

Spoon polenta into four shallow bowls. Top polenta with meatballs and tomato sauce. Sprinkle with grated parmesan and basil, if using.

Simple Tomato Sauce

Developed from here and here.

Notes: This is a simple sauce that can be made on the fly with items from your pantry. I like the sweet, subtle anise flavor of fresh basil in this sauce, but if you don’t have any in the house, substitute dried oregano, which will give it a more Italian-American flavor. Dried basil tends to have a flat, dusty flavor, so I prefer dried oregano.

Taking an extra minute to hand-crush canned whole tomatoes (as opposed to already crushed or diced tomatoes), will give your sauce better flavor. The best tomatoes go into cans of whole tomatoes, while the inferior tomatoes get diced up or crushed.

The onion in this recipe is used for flavor and then removed once the sauce is cooked. This leaves you with a rich tomato sauce infused with onion flavor and a nice texture. You can save the onions for something else (they would be delicious alongside pan-seared chicken or roasted meat), or serve them on the side.

1 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil or butter
4 garlic cloves, peeled and slivered
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 medium onion, peeled and halved
1 large fresh basil sprig, or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, more to taste

Pour tomatoes into a large bowl and crush with your hands, and reserve.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When it is hot, add garlic. Sauté until the garlic sizzles, but is not brown (see photo above - about 1 minute). Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan, along with the red pepper (if using), salt, onion, and large basil sprig.

Cook uncovered at a slow, but steady simmer for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, when you feel moved to do so.

Remove the onion and basil. Taste and correct for salt. Serve.

Baked Polenta

Notes: Baked Polenta takes more time than polenta made on a stove-top, but there is very little active time. Polenta made over the stove requires constant stirring for at least half an hour, while baked polenta cooks in the oven, freeing me up to fix a salad or wrangle with the kids (more likely). The results leave you with a piping hot bowl of creamy corn goodness.

This polenta would also be great topped with any saucy protein (like a meat stew), a fried egg and a side of sauteed greens, or some roasted vegetables.

4 cups (1 quart) low-sodium broth (any kind) or water
1 cup polenta, coarse ground cornmeal, or corn grits (not quick-cooking)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (if using unsalted broth or water)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
2 ounces Parmesan, grated (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter an oven-safe 2 quart dish. (An 8"x8" pan works well too.)

Combine broth (or water and salt), polenta, and pepper in the buttered dish and stir. Bake uncovered for about 1 hour, stirring once or twice. Polenta is done when it is thick and creamy.

Remove from oven, and stir in the grated parmesan and butter. Serve.

Swedish Meatballs / January 26, 2016 by Cynthia Raub

My two daughters had preschool potlucks on consecutive days - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. What could I cook that would work for both mealtimes? I wanted to bring something that: I could cook in bulk, was not very costly, could be prepared in advance, and was easy for preschoolers and standing parents to eat. Swedish meatballs were perfect! They are bite-sized and dense, making them an easy to serve and eat finger food. Not to mention, they are a preschooler’s favorite color of food: brown (see: crackers, toast, peanut butter, chocolate…). To make things interesting, I decided to quadruple the recipe to have generous portions for the two preschool parties, enough to freeze for my family and a bag for Amy.

Notes: In this recipe, I decided to shallow fry the meatballs to keep their beautiful round shape intact. This method is not for everyone, or for every occasion, but I was happy with the results. Alternatively, you can bake the meatballs at 350 degrees for 18-24 minutes; either directly on a baking sheet/baking pan or on a wire rack, so the fat can drip down. There are pros and cons to shallow frying and baking, but a big pro of baking is that you can scrape the little fatty bits from the pan into the gravy to make it extra delicious!

Also, this recipe calls for sweated onions, but I decided to cook half of the onion and keep half of the onion raw. I liked how the cooked onion lent a small amount of sweetness in a bite, but I loved how the raw onion cut through the beef flavor. The allspice and nutmeg in this recipe were so subtle that I think these meatballs are highly adaptable to numerous uses and cuisines. The spices are traditional for Swedish meatballs, but the gravy is what made it so. One night, my husband threw a dozen frozen meatballs into a vegetable soup for dinner and the allspice and nutmeg were almost undetectable. Amy used them in a completely different way, too, in her Meatballs with Tomato Sauce and Polenta.

READ MORE: THE SHARED MEATBALLS

Time: 1 hour
Servings: 30 2 oz meatballs, around 6 portions
Adapted from: Alton Brown, Swedish Meatball Recipe

For the Meatballs
3 cups of cubed white bread, crusts removed
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon kosher salt (plus more to taste)
1.5 pounds ground beef (I used 92% lean and 8% fat)
1.5 pounds ground pork
3 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
8 oz canola oil

For the Gravy
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
Splash of Worcestershire or soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Parsley, finely chopped- optional for garnish
1/4 cup sour cream, optional, to finish the gravy

Place bread in a small bowl, pour milk over and mix, set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium heat. Add half of the onion (1/2 cup) and sweat until the onions are translucent and soft. Remove onions from the pan and set aside to cool.

In a stand mixer bowl, combine the bread and milk mixture, ground beef, pork, egg yolks, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, raw onions, and cooked onions. Mix until very well combined and the meat has become sticky and homogenous. Using a 2-ounce cookie scoop, portion, and then roll each meatball with your hands and place on a sheet pan.

In a 12" straight edge saute pan, heat oil to 250 degrees. Add the meatballs in small batches and fry until golden brown on all sides, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the meatballs to cooling rack with a slotted spoon or tongs.

In a medium saucepan, melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat until foamy. Whisk in flour and cook until raw flour smell is gone and the mixture is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Once at a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Whisk in a splash of soy sauce (or Worcestershire) and acid. Season with salt and white pepper. If you are feeling sassy, stir in 1/4 cup of sour cream to give the gravy a beautiful creamy look and tangy flavor.

Add meatballs to gravy and stir to coat. Simmer until meatballs are heated through. Garnish with chopped parsley!