meatballs recap

I wanted to put an update up about this meatball recipe that I posted a while back from a Jim Harrison book. I'm really starting to think that everything Jim Harrison does is golden. My boyfriend made this recipe for a New Years dinner party and they are indeed delicious. This is a really special meatball recipe. I had them with ground veal and some pinenuts as a nice special addition. The key to these meatballs is that a thin outter layer of the ball gets brown and crispy before being pulled out of the oven. This is the last meatball and sauce recipe you will ever need. Here it is again:

Sauce:

Pour a liberal amount of good olive oil in the bottom of the baking pan. Halve a dozen or so tomatoes and place them in the pan. Sprinkle them liberally with chopped garlic, fresh basil, and thyme. Cook for about an hour at 325 F. Chop this roughly and you have your sauce.


Meatballs:

1 pound ground chuck or veal
2 beaten eggs
5 cloves garlic
1/4 cup parsley
3 or 4 anchovy fillets, preferably salt-packed
Ample extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup to 1 cup freshly made bread crumbs

Saute the garlic, finely chopped, in olive oil until translucent. Add the anchovies and let melt, then add the parsely and wilt; let cool. Mix the meat with the eggs. Add the cooked garlic, anchovies, parsley, salt and pepper, and bread crumbs. Form your meatballs, but not too large or they will crack. Brown in olive oil, then cook slowly. Mix in your roasted tomato sauce."