“I rarely get to play Italian. I was really glad to get to unload a lot of my Italian nuance into this character.”
Ingredients:
For the meatballs:
2 pounds ground meat (can be all beef, or can be 1 pound beef and 1 pound pork)
Soft white bread/roll — a dinner roll/slider-size amount of soft white bread soaked in enough milk that it all gets wet but there’s not a lot of excess milk)
2–3 large cloves garlic, microplaned
1 large, minced shallot
5–10 stalks Italian parsley, finely chopped leaves
3 eggs
10 large basil leaves (optional) — chiffonade the leaves
Pecorino Romano grated cheese (wedges usually come in 7- or 8-ounce portions; use ½ to ¾ of the wedge)
Good amount of salt and black pepper
For the sauce:
3 cans (28 ounces/1 pound) of Bianco DiNapoli whole canned tomatoes
Half a tube of tomato paste
1 large yellow/sweet onion, diced small
6 cloves garlic, diced
3–4 fresh bay leaves (bay leaves have a great flavor that comes through only when you use fresh leaves … dried leaves pale in comparison)
3–4 stalks fresh basil (chiffonade 20 or so leaves plus more to garnish)
10 shakes dried oregano
5 shakes dried thyme
5–10 shakes red pepper flakes (depending on your heat tolerance)
Good amount of salt and black pepper
2–3 glugs dry white or red wine (preferably Italian grapes)
Extra-virgin olive oil — depending on what’s left from cooking the meatballs, add enough back in to coat the bottom of the pot
Directions
For the meatballs:
Mix with your hands and incorporate everything well — don’t go crazy, but make sure it’s all together. Pull out a marble-size amount of the meat and cook in olive oil to taste if the seasoning is working. If it needs more salt, add more salt; more cheese, add more cheese; more pepper, etc. In a large pot, heat up enough good extra-virgin olive oil to coat the bottom. Roll the balls to your size preference — golf ball to plum-size is recommended. Sear the balls in the olive oil … doesn’t have to be every square inch of the exterior (2 sides is fine), just enough that the balls will keep their shape once you transfer them into the sauce to finish their cooking. Transfer the seared balls onto a plate, platter, or sheet pan –– whatever you’ve got –– and let them hang out until your sauce is ready.
For the sauce:
In the same large pot that you seared your meatballs, add in more olive oil if needed and start getting it hot. (You want those cooked meatball bits at the bottom and the cooked oil to help flavor your sauce.) Add in your diced onion and stir for a minute or so … then add in some salt and pepper, red pepper flake, dried oregano, and thyme, and stir again. Add in your diced garlic, fresh bay leaves, and the basil stalks, and stir. Let that all cook for another minute. Make sure the garlic doesn’t brown too much. Squirt half a tube of tomato paste into the onions and garlic and stir. Cook for 1–2 minutes, then pour in 2–3 glugs of wine, stir, and let simmer for a minute … there should be enough in the mixture that it can reduce but not evaporate. The mixture should be wet, but not too liquid. Remove the basil stalks.
Open the cans of Bianco DiNapoli whole tomatoes. Break them up before adding to the pot (do it over the pot with your hands if you’re comfortable with that, or just pour them into a big bowl and break them up in there, then add to the pot.) * Open the cans in advance so they’re ready to go in when you get to this step.
Stir everything together and let it come to a simmer. Season to taste: Add some salt and pepper and the fresh chiffonade basil. Once it has simmered for 10–15 minutes, add in the seared meatballs and continue to simmer for a further 15 minutes.
In another pot with boiling salted water, add your favorite pasta. Make sure to drain it when it’s al dente (a minute under what is recommended on the box). Then put the pasta back in the pot, and ladle in enough sauce onto to coat thoroughly, so they absorb the sauce and don’t stick. Plate the pasta with the meatballs, add more sauce, grated Pecorino Romano, some chiffonade basil, and some good extra-virgin olive oil.