The MeatBall Shop's Classic Recipe

The Meatball Shop's Classic Beef Meatballs

Try This Delicious Italian Classic

Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow put unique twists on the Italian favorite.

From the kitchen of The Meatball Shop

|

Servings:6-8

Difficulty: Easy

Cook Time: 30-60 min

Use these classic meatballs in your favorite sandwich!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds 80% lean ground beef

1 cup ricotta cheese

2 large eggs

½ cup bread crumbs

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon ground flakes

½ teaspoon ground fennel

4 cups classic tomato sauce

For the sauce:

¼ cup olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano or ½ teaspoon dried

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 teaspoons salt or to taste

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Two 26-ounce boxes Pomi Chopped Tomatoes or two 28-ounch cans whole plum tomatoes, chopped with their liquid

Cooking Directions

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Drizzle the olive oil into a 9×13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface. Set aside.
Combine the ground beef, ricotta, eggs, bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes, and fennel in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.
Roll the mixture into round, golf ball-size meatballs 9about 1 ½ inches), making sure to pack the meat firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching one another.
Roast for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through. A meat thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball should read 165°F.
While the meatballs are roasting, heat the tomato sauce in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring often.
When the meatballs are firm and fully cooked, remove them from the oven and drain the excess grease from the pan. Pour the tomato sauce over them. Return the meatballs to the oven and continue roasting for another 15 minutes.
For the sauce:
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, bay leaf, oregano, garlic, and salt and cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir constantly until the sauce begins to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 5 minutes or so to prevent the sauce on the bottom of the pot from burning. Taste and season with additional salt, if desired. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
Recipe courtesy of "The Meatball Shop."
This recipe was styled by chef Karen Pickus for Good Morning America.
From the book,The MeatBall Shop by Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow. Copyright (c) 2011 by Michael Holzman and Daniel Chernow. Reprinted by arrangement with Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved."

Recipe Summary

Pasta Lentil Bolognese

Pasta Lentil Bolognese
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced small, 1 cup
2 small celerly stalks, diced small, 1/2 cup
1 small fennel bulb, diced small, 1 1/2 cups
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBSP White Wine Vinegar
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup green lentils
2 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes – 28 oz can
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
8 oz wide whole wheat pasta noodles-linguine, fettucini, etc.
1/2 cup low fat milk
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Instructions:
1. In a large dutch oven or saucepot, heat oil on medium high. Add onion, carrot, celery, fellel and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until released water evaporates and brown bits begin to form on bottom of pot, about 15 minutes. Add vinegar and scrape any brown bits from bottom of pot as liquid evaporates. Stir in broth, 1 cup water, lentils, tomatoes, oregano, parsley and basil. Reduct heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and set aside.

3. Add milk to bolognese and continue to simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide pasta amont 4 bowls and top each with about 1 1/2 cups bolognese.

Nutirents per serving (4 oz pasta & 1 1/2 cups bolognese)

Calories: 337, Total Fat: 4 gm, Carbs: 68 g, Fiber: 15g, Sugars:
8g, Protein 13 g, Sodium: 484 mg, Cholesterol, 1mg

Juices That may help with Depression

**oh how I have been wanting to get a juicer ~ws **
I found this & thought it was interesting:
Drinking juices that have a lot of celery, fennel or dark greens have been known to help depression and induce feelings of euphoria. All the great vitamins and nutrients in these juices will get you healthier, and provide you with long and sustainable amounts of energy. The high levels of chlorophyll and natural ability to induce endorphins in the blood stream from these juices make them very helpful with depression. In fact, celery juice was historically used to help people get over heartbreak because it helps creating a soothing feeling.

If you would like to start juicing and you need a juicer.

Maybe it’s the weather (it’s been super rainy over here) but I’ve been feeling a little … in french you would say mouche. It means blaaahhh! hehe. So, I decided to look up a recipe that’s good for depression. I will likely do a whole other post on depression. But just in case you are feeling down and need a little pick- me-up, give this juice a try!

Why it Will Work:

Fennel Juice: Fennel juice helps endorphins get released into the blood stream. As we all know, endorphins make us feel happy and can also help us relax.

Celery Juice: Celery juice can act as a sedative, which is likely due to the phytochemical in it (butyl phthalide). Historically, celery juice was used as a remedy to help heal a broken heart; it is said to help you forget your troubles and calm the nerves. … and not to mention the loads of vitamins and nutrients that help build energy and keep you feeling refreshed! Give this juice a try and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

4 stalks of fennel
4 carrots
3 stalks of celery
1/2 pear
1/2 inch piece of ginger

Directions:

Rinse and chop the above ingredients into cubes that will fit down your juicer tube.
Juice the ingredients, alternating between soft and hard fruits. It’s probably a good idea to start off with some carrot and end with some carrot.
Pour the juice into a glass and feel your spirits lift as you indulge in this natural remedy!
Serves: 2