Grandma's Homemade Italian Sauce and Meatballs

This recipe has been handed down for generations and is always a hit. Both the sauce and meatballs freeze well. I freeze in dinner size portions so my husband and I don't have to use the bottled sauce!

• Preparation Time: 60 mins
• Cooking Time: 8 hr
• Total Time: 9 hr
• Calories: 422 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 12 cups water
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 5 pork chops
• ¼ pound ground pork
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (8 ounce) package mushrooms, sliced
• 1 ¼ cups dry bread crumbs
• ¼ pound ground veal
• 48 ounces tomato paste

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

In a large pot combine tomato paste, water, garlic, bay leaves, basil, and salt. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to low and simmer.

Step 2

In a skillet, brown pork chops in olive oil then place in sauce mixture. Saute onions and mushrooms in same pan that you browned the pork chops. Add these to sauce as well. Simmer sauce a minimum of 8 hours, stirring occasionally.

Step 3

To make the meatballs: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine beef, pork, veal, Romano cheese, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley and eggs; mix well. Shape into balls. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Step 4

Bake meatballs for 20 minutes. Place meatballs in a serving bowl when baking is complete and place in refrigerator. About 2 hours prior to dinnertime pop the meatballs into the sauce.