Nanni's Meatballs

 

Around Christmas time last year my Nanni passed away. She left behind a beautiful and well lived life which made possible 4 children, 14 grandchildren, 1 great grandchild, and countless friends and extended family. She was a cancer survivor, an active member of her church, and enjoyed a cup of coffee and always had cookies on deck for the grandkids. 

I wanted to honor her with a recipe from a beautiful book put together by her daughter, my Aunt Kim, which became a tearful Christmas gift because none of us knew last year that she wouldn't be there to share it. The cookbook contains recipes from Nanni's personal collection, both handwritten and typed, and also includes many recipes from other family members to create a Stilwell Family Cookbook across generations. 

I decided to use Nanni's meatball recipe to highlight her skills in the kitchen with simple family style meal. The recipe below is my take on her original dish. If you're looking for an easy, delicious, crowd pleasing Christmas Eve dinner, this might be just for you 💓

Serves 6

Time to finish: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2-3 slices bread, torn into small pieces
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
• salt and pepper
• Bread crumbs as needed
• Olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• Sugar
• Your favorite red sauce (16-32 oz jar)
• I used a meat flavored pasta sauce
• Your favorite pasta (16 oz box)
• I used penne but ziti, spaghetti, or linguini are also great choices!

Directions:

• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a sauce pan on low-medium heat
• Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent (5-8 minutes)
• Do not burn! If the onions start to burn, turn down the heat
• While the onions cook, add ground beef, bread, and eggs, salt, and pepper to a large mixing bowl
• Mix meatball ingredients together using hands
• If mixture is too wet, add seasoned breadcrumbs
• Mixture should be moist enough to form into balls but not super sticky to the touch
• Form mixture into 2 inch meatballs
• Add garlic to the pan and sauté until fragrant
• Place meatballs in the sauce pan with the in onions
• Brown for 1 minute on all sides
• Add a large portion of your favorite red sauce to the pan and mix through the onions and meatballs until everything is coated and scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pan
• Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally
• While sauce simmers, prepare the pasta according to package instructions
• Cook to el dente, strain, toss with a small amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper
• Taste your sauce! Add salt, pepper, and sugar in small amounts until it tastes just right. Less is more!
• Serve over cooked, strained, and seasoned pasta

Extra Love:

• I used ground venison with my meatballs and they turned out delicious! If you decide to use venison instead of ground beef, I recommend using butter in your pan instead of olive oil because venison is so low in fat that is will dry out quickly
• Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese and a crusty garlic bread
• Any dark green veggie would make an excellent side like broccoli, asparagus, or brussel sprouts

I hope your holiday is filled with loved ones, delicious foods, warm cocoa, and extra love. If not, there is always room at my table. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!