These slow cooked, handmade meatballs can also be cooked stove top
The secret is:
NO pre-cooking in a frypan or oven
What you’ll need
Meatballs
- Minced pork – I will occasionally use half pork + half veal or beef
- Fresh bread crumbs – use approx 8 slices of bread. Roughly tear bread apart to achieve small bread chunks. The size and amount of the bread “crumbs” are important for this recipe as they help the meatballs retain moisture and flavour by soaking up and trapping the juices from the sauce.
- Egg – helps to bind meatballs
- Milk – can be substituted for cream
- Grated parmesan cheese – helps to bind and
adds creaminess and flavour - Onion
- Garlic cloves
- Dried herbs to taste
- Fresh basil
Sauce
- 3x 400ml cans diced/crushed tomatoes
– or homemade Napoli tomato sauce - 2 handfuls of fresh basil or your favourite
herbs
- 1 onion
- 4+ cloves garlic – the more the better
- Pasta to serve
EQUIPMENT
- Kitchen scales
- Slow cooker or large saucepan/pot
- Large mixing bowl
- Chopping board
- Knife
I don’t have a slow cooker, can I cook them stovetop?
Yes absolutely! Simply add the sauce ingredients to a large saucepan along with the freshly formed meatballs. Make sure to have enough sauce to cover meatballs (you can add extra water if needed).
Lightly boil on medium for 20min or until meatballs have changed in colour, then simmer on lowest heat for up to 4 hours. If stove cooking, you will have to check them regularly! Don’t let them stick to the bottom or let the sauce dry out. Instead of stirring, I like to hold the side of my pot and give them a little wiggle to loosen them up – I only feel comfortable doing this after they have been cooked for the first 20 mins, after this, they will be a bit more sturdy
Why dont you cook the meatballs in the fry pan first?
Most recipes call for you to brown the meatballs in a fry pan before adding them to the sauce. After years of cooking and perfecting this dish, I have found the best way to retain the moisture and secure the meatballs melt in your mouth is to add them straight to the sauce raw. Don’t stress, the meatballs will fully cook in the sauce.
Why does this recipe call for fresh bread crumbs?
Breadcrumbs are used in recipes such as meatballs to help bind the meatballs but also to add flavour and moisture. The bread helps to absorb juices and fats from the sauce. I find that fresh bread crumbs add extra juiciness to the meatballs, they go that extra mile, they’re also a key ingredient in the “melt in your mouth” aspect of this recipe as the juices absorbed in the bread adds to soften the overall texture of the meatball.
I like to keep the breadcrumbs slightly bigger than what is traditionally used. The process of making fresh bread crumsb from EIGHT slices of bread can be a tad tedious, I usually either rub two slices together at a time or use a knife to chop into chunks. Note the picture below as a size guide.
The rundown
- Tear bread slices into small chunks as pictured above
- Place all meatball ingredients into a large bowl
- Mix together until consistent
- The mixture should be slightly wet and pasty- don’t panic, this is what makes them so soft!
- Fill slow cooker (or large pot if cooking stove top) with diced tomatoes and diced onion
- Form meatball into desired size & gently place the formed meatballs into the sauce, if placing on top of each other try to do so gently so they are not squished together
- Add half a cup of water, the meatballs should be as covered as possible, avoid having meatballs poking up from sauce
- Add herbs, seasonings, and garlic
- Slow cook on low for a minimum of 4 hours, the longer the better! Do not stir until toward the end when they are cooked!!
- If the sauce is looking a bit runny toward serving time, I like to take off the lid for the last 10 mins or so and turn up the heat, this’ll let some of the extra water evaporate
- Serve with cooked pasta; my favourites are pappardelle and fettuccine
Melt in your mouth meat balls
Equipment
- Kitchen scales
- Slow cooker or large saucepan/pot
- Mixing bowl
- Chopping board
- Knife
Ingredients
Meatball mixture
- 500 grams minced pork* half pork and beef works well also
- 150 grams fresh bread crumbs (approx 8 slices of bread)
- 1 egg
- 200 ml milk
- 100 grams grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- dried herbs to taste
- fresh basil
Sauce
- 3x 400ml cans diced/crushed tomatoes* or homemade napoli tomato sauce
- 2 handfuls fresh basil or your favourite herb
- 1 onion
- 4+ cloves garlic
- pasta to serve
Instructions
- Tear small pieces from bread slices to make fresh breadcrumbs
- Dice onion and use half for sauce and half for meatball mixture
- Place all meatball ingredients into a large bowl
- Mix together until consistent, the mixture should be slightly wet and pasty- don't panic, this is what makes them so soft!
- Fill slow cooker (or large pot if cooking stove top) with diced tomatoes and onion
- Spoon blobs of mixture into hand and form meatball into desired size
- Gently place the formed meatballs into the sauce, try to avoid placing meatballs ontop of each other if possible
- Add herbs, seasonings and half a cup of water, the meatballs should be as covered as possible, avoid having meatballs poking up from sauce
- slow cook on low for a minimum of 4 hours, the longer the better! Do not stir until toward the end when they are cooked!! If the sauce is looking a bit runny toward serving time, I like to take off the lid for the last 10 mins or so and turn up the heat, this'll let some of the extra water evaporate. *If cooking in pot* lightly boil on medium for 20min or until meatballs have changed in colour, simmer on lowest heat for up to 4 hours. If stove cooking, you will have to check them regularly! Don't let them stick to the bottom or let the sauce dry out. Instead of stirring, I like to hold the side of my pot and give them a little wiggle to loosen them up – I only feel comfortable doing this after they have been cooked for the first 20 mins, after this they will be a bit more sturdy
- Serve with cooked pasta; my favourites are pappardelle and fettucine
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