Big, beautiful savory meatballs stuffed with fontina, baked and topped with Marinara! An Italian masterpiece! Make this very easy on yourself and use a good store bought marinara, your family will go nuts over these!
Ingredients:
Meatballs:
- 1 lb of ground pork
- 1 lb of ground beef
- 1/2 cup of onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup of green pepper, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of fine bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 Tbs of Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup of chili sauce
- 1 cup of evaporated milk
- 2 tsp of kosher salt
- 2 tsp of black pepper
- dash of allspice
- 5 oz of Fontina or Mozzarella cheese, cut into 1 1/2 – 2 inch pieces
Marinara Sauce
- 2 Tbs of olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 can of whole Italian tomatoes, (28 oz) with their juices (squish them up with your fingers)
- 1/4 cup of dry red wine
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 /2 tsp of black pepper
- 1 tsp of dried oregano
- 1 tsp of sugar
- 3 fresh basil leaves, chopped (add at the end)
Directions:
Marinara Sauce
In a large skillet, over medium high heat, add the olive oil and saute the onion for 3 minutes, add the garlic and saute 1 more minute.Add the tomatoes, red wine, salt, pepper, oregano and sugar, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
I use an immersion blender at this point to make the sauce a little smoother, you can also use a food processor, then pour back into the skillet, or you can leave it chunky.Add the basil and cook a few more minutes. All done!Meatballs:
In a large bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients, except for the Fontina.Roughly divide meat mixture into 5 portions and shape into 5 balls, place on a foil lined baking sheet. With your thumb, make an indentation in each one, push in a piece of Fontina and close up the meat around it. (some cheese may still ooze out) Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, then broil til nicely browned.Plate the meatballs, spoon over the marinara sauce and sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese! YUM!