The Duchess & Meatballs

I love Italian food.I really do. There's nothing like a good, home made Italian meal. No. Olive Garden does not count you heathen. I mean a genuine homemade Italian Meal. It's so comforting for me, the starchy goodness, the yummy filling delicious saucy goodness of a good Italian meal. a good simple, hearty pasta- YUM. Absolute Yum!

I, apparently, had an Italian babysitter. Beats me I don't remember that at all but- yeas to all that Italiano yumminess that was introduced into my life. I don't think I've conveyed just how much I love Italian. Did I? Have I? Oh, Let me tell you more if I have not. Because I do love it so much. I have a killer Lasagna recipe for you- but that's not getting shared today- but believe me that bad boy is delish. You'll thank me for that when the time comes. What I have for you today is my amazing, juicy, succulent delish Meatball recipe. Oh yeah, the mecca of Italian dishes- the MEATBALL. Oh, baby I'm so excited to share this. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do because-Wow. To my Italians out there- does mama get the approval for this?

Duchess Meatballs

Ingredients:

2 lbs Ground Beef

1 Red Onion

1/2 cup of finely diced Yellow Onions

6 Garlic Cloves

4 Minced Garlic Cloves

2 inches of Sliced Ginger Root

1 handful of Cilantro

1 handful of Sun-dried Tomatoes

1 Tbls of Salt

1 Tbls of Cracked Black Pepper

2 Tbls of Italian Seasoning

2 eggs

1 cup of Bread Crumbs (Italian Seasoning)

3 Tbls of Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup Chicken Stock

1 15 ounce can of Diced Tomatoes

1 Jar of Marinara Sauce (you're preference)

3 bay leaves

1/2 cup of Red Wine ( if you wouldn't drink it- don't cook with it)

Directions:

1. In a food processor, combine red onions (chopped), Garlic Cloves, Ginger, Cilantro and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. Blend until finely chopped and almost mush.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine your blended veggies, ground beef, salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning. Use your hands, don't be afraid. This should be well combined. Massage your ground beef and seasonings. Once combined, add in your two eggs until well combined.

3. Work your bread crumbs into your mixture.

4. Heat your oil in a large dutch oven on medium high heat. Once heated, gently make your meatballs. They should be about 1 inch in size. They will shrink when cooked so feel free to be generous. Pace you meatballs into your dutch oven to sear. Depending on size this may be necessary to do in batches.

5. Preheat your oven to 375F.

6. Gently roll your meatballs to sear on both sides, roughly 5 minutes each side. Do not worry about cooking all the way through, the oven and the sauce will do the rest of the work.

7. Remove your meatballs and place into the oven for 5-10 minutes (if doing more batches sear your next batch then put ALL meatballs into the oven at the SAME time). In the same pot you seared the Meatballs (don't get rid of anything I that pot! We need it!) add Chopped Yellow Onions and minced garlic. Cook until translucent. & deliciously fragrant.

8. Add in Diced Tomatoes. Cook down 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of Chicken Stock. Cook down another 5 minutes. gently add your meatballs into the mixture. Treat them like your babies, tuck them in GENTLY.

9. Allow to gently simmer for another 5 minutes. Add in your bay leaves,Marinara sauce and wine. gently mix to combine and cover on low for 20- 30 minutes. Serve with Spaghetti, the traditional way.

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Duchess Tip:

These meatballs will be soft, tender & JUICY. Like fall apart while you stir JUICY. Whatever is left over, Mush it up and make a meat sauce. You're welcome.