A Family That Eats Together: Breadless Meatballs with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Ricotta Cheese
Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes and family dining ideas that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear. Check out Nicole's meal plan for this week.
In my on going search for carb free meals, which are satisfying, I tried this recipe from David Rocco. I love how light and airy the meatballs become using nonfat ricotta cheese and braising them in homemade tomato sauce. The trick to fabulous meatballs is using the freshest organic grass fed and leanest ground meat you can find. With the addition of the tangy sundried tomatoes you will never know what is missing from these meatballs. My family gobbled them up so fast that their plates were “licked” clean.
Servings: 8–10
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
for the meatballs
- 1 pound organic grass fed very lean ground beef
- 1 egg
- ½ cup nonfat ricotta cheese
- ½ cup chopped sundried tomatoes drained of oil
- ¼ cup Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese
for the sauce
- 2 28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup red wine
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Directions
- Mix together in a bowl with your hands the beef, egg, ricotta, sun-dried tomatoes and parmigiano-reggiano cheese until it is well incorporated. Do not over mix as the meatballs will turn out tuff.
- Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and wine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer.
- Form the meat mixture into golf-ball sized balls. Gently place each meatball into the simmering liquid. Make sure all the meatballs are covered with liquid. Cover the pot and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
- Serve with spaghetti or on its own with a side salad.
