Belgian Meatballs In Tomato Sauce Recipes

ITALIAN MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the sauce: in a heavy saucepan cook the onion and the garlic in the oil over low heat, stirring, for 2 minutes; add parsley, basil, tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, wine, sugar, romano, salt, and oregano, and simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
• While sauce is cooking, prepare the meatballs: in a large bowl combine bread (with liquid squeezed from it), chuck (it's really good if you grind your own!), eggs, romano, parsley, garlic, the oregano, salt, and pepper; mix well and form into 8 meatballs.
• In a large skillet brown the meatballs in the oil over high heat, turning them often; make sure to not crowd them in the pan, otherwise they won't brown properly.
• Transfer the browned meatballs to the sauce with a slotted spoon and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
• You can serve them with your favorite pasta right away, but these improve in flavor if they're cooled and chilled, covered, and refrigerated overnight or up to 2 days before serving.

BOULETS LIEGEOIS (BELGIAN MEATBALLS)

Steps:

• Mix beef and pork together in a large bowl to thoroughly combine.
• Add the breadcrumbs, eggs, parsley, and onions. Mix thoroughly.
• Roll into meatballs, about 1/2 cup each, and dredge in flour.
• Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Add the meatballs and brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes on each side.
• Remove meatballs to a plate. Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter to the skillet.
• Add the chopped onions and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until onions are caramelized.
• Add the brown sugar and thyme, stir and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the flour, stir to combine.
• Add apple butter and vinegar, stir.
• Pour in the beef stock, and add the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
• Add the meatballs back to the sauce and cook for 15 minutes to heat through.
• Serve immediately with pomme frites {French fries} and Belgian beer or wine.

BELGIAN TOMATO MEATBALL SOUP (TOMATENSOEP MET BALLEKES)

Steps:

• Add the butter to a large and high pan. Place it over medium heat until melted. Then add the chopped garlic and onion together with the fresh rosemary.
• Gently fry the garlic and onion for 4 minutes. Then pour in the canned chopped tomatoes and warm chicken stock.
• Stir and then add the tomato paste. Season with a little pepper and salt.
• Stir the soup again and then cover the pan. Cook the tomato soup for 8 minutes or until the onion is super soft. In the meantime chop the fresh ripe tomatoes up. Once the onion is soft, add the tomatoes.
• Peel and slice the carrot. Also add this to the tomato soup.
• Stir and cook for 8 more minutes until the carrot is soft. Remove the rosemary. Then blend or mix the warm tomato soup until it is very smooth. Check the seasoning and add extra pepper or salt to taste. Add the small meatballs to the soup. Cover the pan again and let them poach in the hot soup for 6 minutes until cooked through. Then add the chopped parsley.
• Scoop the tomato meatball soup into bowls and serve hot.

BEST EVER MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• To make meatballs: In a bowl, stir rice into 4 cups boiling water. Set aside for 30 minutes to soak. Drain well. Return rice to bowl. Add remaining ingredients, except oil, and mix well. Form into 16 balls, each about 2 inch in diameter.
• In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add meatballs, in batches, and brown on all sides. Transfer to slow cooker. Drain all but 1 Tablespoon fat from pan. (If you used extra lean ground beef, you may have to add oil.).
• To make tomato sauce: Reduce heat to medium. Add onions to pan and cook, stirring until softened. Add garlic, oregano, salt, peppercorns and cinnamon stick and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and lemon juice and bring to a boil, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon as they cook.
• Pour sauce over meatballs. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 hours or on LOW for 8 hours, until meatballs are no longer pink inside. Discard cinnamon stick.

OLD WORLD MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Make meatballs first.
• Combine all meatball ingredients, adding enough Italian bread crumbs to allow the ground meat to stick together when formed into a ball.
• Form meatballs into size slightly smaller than Dunkin Donuts munchkins, or a little smaller than a golf ball.
• Set aside meatballs.
• Cover bottom of a large pot with a light coating of olive oil.
• Dice fresh garlic and add to pot, frying until golden (about 30 seconds), but do not burn.
• Add paste, puree, crushed tomatoes and water.
• Add spices to taste. Go easy on the red pepper flakes, as you can always add more later.
• Stir. Note: tomato sauce splatters if left unattended on the stove.
• When sauce begins to boil, lower the heat and place meatballs in one by one.
• Let cook for 15 minutes and then stir, being careful not to break apart meatballs. Thereafter, stir occasionally to prevent meatballs from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
• Cook over low heat for 2 1/2 hours.
• If sauce is too thick, add more water.
• If sauce is too spicy, add some sugar to balance out the spice.