- 3
Ingredients
- For the sauce:
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus 1 tea for greasing the baking dish
- 3 dried red chiles
- 1/2 tea ground peppercorns
- 1/2 tea chopped fresh rosemary or 1/4 tea dried
- 1/2 tea chopped fresh thyme, or 1/4 tea dried
- 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tabl kosher salt
- 2 ted bell peppers, cored, seeded and thinkly sliced
- 1 tabl suar
- 3 cups canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 c water
- For the meatballs:
- 3 tabl e.v.o.o.
- 1 slice white or whole-wheat bread
- 1/4 c warm milk
- 1 lb ground beef (preferably 85% lean)
- 1/2 lb ground veal
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 c fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 jalapeno seeded and veined if you prefer a milkder flavor (finely chopped)
- a 1in piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 tabl kosher salt
- 1 tea Garam Masala
- 1/4 tea ground peppercorns
- 1/4 tea plus a pinch of cayenne pepper
- 2 tabl unsalted butter
- 1/2 c slivered almonds
Preparation
Step 1
To make the sauce, heat the oil, chiles, and ground peppercorns in a large pot over medium-high heat, cooking until the pepper starts to sizzle, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the rosemary and thyme and cook until fragrant, 15-30 seconds. Add the onion and salt and cook until the onion is soft but not browned, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to med. and add the bell peppers. Cook until they start to soften, stirring oftem, about 3 min. Mix in the sugar, reduce the heat to med-low, cover the pot and cook for 5 min, stirring halfway through. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil and then add the water and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat to med and partially cover the pot. Simmer for 20 min, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat off and set aside (at this point, the sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months).
Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease a rimmed baking sheet w/1 tabl of olive oil and set it aside. Prepare the meatballs: dip the bread in the warm milk and press it between your palms to squeeze out the excess liquid (discard leftover milk). Break the bread into small pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the beef, veal, remaining 2 tabl of olive oil and egg and mix with your hands until the mixture is uniform in appearance and the bread is worked in. Add 1/2 the cilantro, the garlic, jalapeno, ginger, salt, Garam Masala, ground peppercorns and cayenne pepper and mix until it is completely integrated.
Melt the butter in a small skillet over med heat. Add the almonds and a pinch of cayenne pepper, stirring and toasting the nuts until they are light brown and fragrant 1- 1 1/2 min. Add the remaining cilantro and cook for an additional 30 sec. Transfer the almonds to a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind into a coarse paste.
Form the meat mixture into small balls about the size of a Ping-Pong ball. Take one in your palm and make an indentation in the center w/your finger. Add 1/4 tea of the almond spice paste and pinch the meatball shut so the spice mix is completely enclosed. Re-form the meat into a ball. Place the filled meatballs on a baking sheet and bake until firm and browned, 18-20 minutes, gently rolling after 10 minutes and then again after 5 minutes so they brown evenly. Toss w/tomato sauce and serve.