Delicious pork & beef meatballs, homemade marinara sauce, too much parmesan (said nobody ever!) and some crispy garlic bread on the side. If this sounds like something you should be wrapping your mouth around then you are in for a real treat with my tasty meatball marinara recipe. Read on friends............
sponsored by Mont Wines, Victoria
Why I Love This Recipe
Because everything I wrote above...... But, also because my kid eats it! Marinara sauce that can be made with both fresh or tinned tomatoes, it sticks to my midweek budget and it takes 20-40 minutes to make (depending upon which route you take with the tomatoes). There are literally too many reasons to write as to why these delicious homemade meatballs topped with my fresh marinara sauce should be on your table right now 😉
Making Pork & Beef Meatballs
This part is simple. The best thing about making things like meatballs is small hands are really good for it. Nope, I don't have tiny hands before you start making jokes - I mean getting the kids involved. Who cares if the meatballs aren't perfectly round, they will still taste bloody good if you follow these steps.
Step 1. Mix all the ingredients together
Step 2. Roll them into 50g balls
Done! It's literally that easy. Top tip when rolling meatballs - rub some oil (preferably food safe) on your hands. It will stop the meat from sticking to your hands when rolling. Once they are rolled all that's left to do is fry them for 2-3 minutes to get a nice sear on them and then finish them in the delicious sauce and you have meatball marinara!
What Is Marinara Sauce
It's a very simple tomato sauce. It usually contains tomatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning & stock. I've added some chilli flakes to add a little kick to it but that's optional!
For my homemade marinara sauce, I roast the tomatoes with olive oil, seasoning, garlic & shallot. Do this for about 15-20 minutes. The roasting of the tomatoes will bring out the natural sugars in them - so good! Once cooked, blitz them up and then add them to a saucepan with the stock and allow it to simmer away until reduced. This takes 8-10 minutes. The key is a gentle simmer as we are cooking the meatballs in the sauce so you don't want to boil it. This will leave you with a meatball marinara that has rocks in it not soft juicy meatballs!
Easy Homemade Garlic Bread
Shop bought will never taste the same again after this insanely easy garlic bread. All you need is butter, garlic, parsley (optional), salt and a loaf of bread. For the bread, a baguette, loaf of sourdough or pane di casa will do just fine.
Mix the softened butter, minced garlic, chopped parsley and salt together. Slice your bread in 1/2 lengthways and smear that garlicky goodness all over it. Roast in the oven and job done!
Mont Wines
This is the 5th recipe in the series of recipes with Marty. This meatball marinara recipe is one to pair with one of his newer wines that I had the pleasure of tasting with the man himself. From memory, it had only been in the bottle a few days so if that's not exclusive then what is!!!
Marty makes a range of delicious small-batch, single-vineyard wines from Victoria, Australia. All the grapes are handpicked and only the best goes into the barrel. Yes, this means he has lower yields than some of the larger wineries but it also means every bottle opened and glass poured is on that attention to detail, love and care goes into making.
Click throught this link and enjoy 15% off and free shipping with code 15-OFF
Sangiovese Wine Pairing
When we think of Sangiovese wine we think of Tuscany, its rolling hills, beautiful vineyards, statues of men with small noses - wait, what did you think I was going to say? The Pyrenees here in Australia offer similar rolling hills, beautiful vineyards but real live men with large hands - those would be the farmers tending to the vineyards 😉
Sangiovese, originating in Italy typically has high acidity, low tannins with earthy herbaceous notes, plums, cherries, redcurrant and sometimes a touch smokey too. They are wines that are made for food and are almost too drinkable.
Marty has created a Sangiovese that is simply crushable. At 13% it's almost a little dangerous! Imagine a delicious bowl of my meatball marinara, a wood-fired pizza or even some bolognese, the fire on and a glass of red - if you aren't immediately thinking how great that would be then what's wrong with you!!
Tips & FAQ's
you sure can - sometimes the tomatoes aren't the best at the shop, you are in a hurry or your budget simply can't afford it. Substitute 1 can of tinned tomatoes for fresh. Instead of roasting them with the shallot simply fry off the shallot in some oil/butter and then add the tomatoes and stock. Your sauce will be a little more "rustic" but will still taste blood good!
The sauce works great OBVIOUSLY with these delicious meatballs but it's great on top of spaghetti (with or without meatballs!), drizzled over a parmi, you can use it as part of ratatouille, with some grilled chicken or one of my personal faves - dip a grilled cheese sandwich into it 😉
Garlic bread is a classic in my opinion with meatball marinara but alternatively, you can add spaghetti, noodles, mashed potatoes or even just some grilled veggies.
Other Mont Wines & Recipes
Mont 'Amy Chardonnay' & Spatchcock Chicken
Mont 'Helen Chardonnay' & Mushroom Avocado Toast
Mont Pinot Noir & Moroccan Salmon
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 400 g beef mince
- 400 g pork mince
- 40 g grated parmesan
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 50 g panko breadcrumbs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp worcestershire
- salt & pepper
Marinara Sauce
- 1 kg tomatoes i used baby truss
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 red chilli
- 1 shallot
- 3 olive oil
- 250 ml beef stock
- salt & pepper
Garlic Bread
- 1/2 loaf sourdough loaf
- 100 g butter softened
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- salt
Garnish
- basil
- parmesan
Essential Tools
- baking tray x 2
- Blender
- saucepan
- Chef Knives
- Chopping board
- mixing bowl
- Measuring utensils
Instructions
Sauce
- Chop the tomatoes in ½, dice the shallot and garlic.
- Toss them in oil and salt and roast them for 20 minutes @ 160c until softened (start to prepare the meatballs & garlic bread)
- Once cooked, blend the tomato mixture until smooth
- Place in a saucepan, add beef stock and meatballs – bring to a simmer and reduce for 8 minutes until slightly thickened and meatballs are cooked through
Meatballs
- Mix all ingredients together until well combines
- Make 16 x 50g balls
- Fry the meatballs in 1 tbsp oil for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to the sauce as it reduces
- Serve in a bowl and finish with loads of grated parmesan and some basil leaves
Garlic Bread
- Mix the garlic, chopped parsley, salt & butter together
- Cut the bread in ½ lengthways and smear the butter mixture onto the bread
- Bake for 6 minutes @ 200c until golden and crispy
Notes
Tips/Tricks
- garlic bread can be made in advance and left in the fridge until ready to bake
- meatballs can be shaped in advance until ready to serve
- you can roast the tomatoes etc in advance and blend – once ready to cook the meatballs then you can finish the sauce
- rubbing some oil on your hands when making the meatballs will stop them from sticking
- you can substitute tinned tomatoes for raw tomatoes – fry the garlic & shallot in oil then add tinned tomatoes and follow the recipe as above
I love the mixture of beef and pork for these meatballs. Looks delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Meatballs look delish. And in my opinion, you can never have too much sauce.
Damn straight - the more sauce the more dunking with garlic bread 😉
Just amazing! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
My pleasure - glad you enjoyed it!
Lovely recipe. We eat meatballs in the sauce very often for our family dinner, so your recipe is much appreciated!
Awesome - I hope you enjoy my recipe and I’d love to see some pics too!
This looks sooo delicious! I love meatballs, but I have never made them with parmesan and I don't know why!? Anyway, you inspired me now to do it and also to try this wonderful sauce! Great blog!
The homemade sauce is so good with it and don’t forget that garlic bread 😉
I love meatballs with marinara! This looks delicious!