In this case, we had a family gathering last week and fixed hot dogs and hamburgers. I have no idea how people usually plan this sort of thing, but everyone seemed to gravitate towards hamburgers that weekend. …and that means we had a ton of hot dog buns leftover (I froze the dogs). Then the idea of meatball subs popped into my head and couldn’t let it go.
The sauce will take you no more than 40 minutes (of which 25 min is just cooking the onions) and you’ll be stocked. I use it for everything from lasagna to eggplant parmesan to just a great pasta sauce. Very simple list of ingredients – if you’re one of those people who gets turned off by capers and black olives, don’t be – I absolutely promise that you won’t notice them, but they impact the recipe big time if you left them out. Everything is chopped finely and even the pickiest of eaters will love this sauce.
As usual, I doubled the recipe – so the pictures may look like more than what you’re cooking. Just keep it in mind.
Tomato Sauce (single recipe)
1 ½ Tbls capers
½ large can of black olives
1 large yellow onion caramelized (cook 2 if you’re making lasagna or meatballs as the béchamel/meatballs need it too)
2 (28oz) cans of crushed tomatoes (not whole, not diced, not sauce, …crushed)
1 Tbls oregano
½ Tbls basil chopped (I use fresh when I have it, but use dried a lot too)
1 ½ tsp hot red pepper flakes
½ Tbs garlic
¾ Tbls kosher salt (more if needed) plus cracked pepper
Caramelize the onion first. Chop up the olives and capers very finely (almost a mash) and add it to the pan. Cook for a couple minutes and add the garlic – cook for 1 more minute. Add then the cans of tomatoes, crushed red pepper, basil and a healthy dose of salt to taste. Cook for 10 minutes on medium low heat. If you want a meat sauce, cook the beef/pork mixture separately (season with salt and pepper). Add to sauce when mixture is cooked (the pork will start to caramelize the meat nicely)
I doubled the meatballs too so I could freeze them - which means the recipe below will make half of what you see. My opinion is that I can spend just a couple more minutes cooking and get dinner for a week a few months down the line.
Meatballs
1 lb beef (I use very lean because the pork adds a lot of fat)
1 lb Italian seasoned ground pork
1 caramelized onion
¼ cup Italian bread crumbs
2 Tbls ketchup
Couple swigs of Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbls Italian seasoning
½ Tbls kosher salt
Combine all ingredients then form into small meatballs. It’s make a ton, but they cook faster when they’re smaller. Use a large skillet and lightly cover bottom of pan with olive oil. Fry on medium heat until both sides are nice a caramelized (black-brown). If you made big ones (which I did), I just fried them on either side until browned then baked in the oven on 375 for another 15 minutes. Add meatballs to sauce as they finish. Sometimes depending on the fattiness of the beef, you may get a lot of liquid in the fry pan – pour out the liquid so it browns better.
A note to the wise – the meatballs and sauce turned out great. But for future reference, don’t use hotdog buns. They’re just too weak in the middle. We ended up having to eat them with a fork (and I even toasted the buns). Next time I’d use something more substantial like a hoagie bun….
(How do you like my new macro lens? I got it cheap off the streets of San Francisco - almost wondered if it "fell off the back of a truck", but love the images it produces. The last sauce picture at the top is also from the macro)
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