Rosemary Pork Meatballs With Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     Dan Clapson, italian, kale, meatballs, pasta sauce, pork, recipes, tomato sauce

What you’ll need…

Tomato Sauce:

1/2 yellow onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 TBSP red wine vinegar

1 13.5 oz can Scarpone’s Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1 cup water

1 TBSP tomato paste

2 TSP cane sugar

1 TSP lemon juice

2 TBSP greek yogurt

salt and pepper

olive oil

Meatballs:

1/2 yellow onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 cups kale (stems removed, finely chopped)

1 lb ground pork

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 TBSP fresh rosemary (chopped)

2 TSP soy sauce

2 TSP worcestershire sauce

1 TSP cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

1 TBSP grapeseed oil (for browning meatballs)

When it’s cold outside, I want comfort god damn it! Italian fare always hits the spot for me on an inappropriately chilly winter evening (although, as I’m typing this I am aware that it is getting nicer out now…) and that’s where this meatball and tomato sauce dish comes in. Give me a plate of this deliciousness and nice, big glass of red wine and I am A-OK with whatever snowy weather comes my way!

The fire roasted tomatoes I used in this recipe can be found fairly easily around Calgary. Calgary Co-op regularly stocked them, as does the Cookbook Co. Cooks and a few other specialty food markets. Trust me, these canned tomatoes are the bomb and make all the difference in this recipe Try them out once and I promise you will never go back to another canned variety. I, myself, am definitely smitten!

Starting off with the tomato sauce, cook down the onions and garlic on medium-high heat in a medium pan with some olive oil. Once onions soften, about 5 minutes, add the vinegar to the pan and let cook for another 5 minutes. Now, pour in the canned tomatoes, paste, water, sugar and lemon juice. Once the mixture starts to bubble, reduce to medium heat and let simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next, place the contents of the pan into a food processor with the yogurt and puree until smooth. Return to pan, season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm until ready to serve.

**This simple tomato sauce is great in a simple pasta and also makes a great base for homemade pizzas!

For the meatballs, start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Then, cook the remaining half onion and garlic on medium-high heat in a small pan with a drizzle olive oil. After the onions soften, add in the kale and cook until wilted and vibrant green in colour, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan, place into a large mixing bowl and let cool slightly.

Place remaining ingredients into the mixing bowl and blend together with hands until everything is well-combined. Roll the pork mixture into small meatballs, approximately 1″ in diameter. To brown the meatballs, heat up one tablespoon of grapeseed oil in a large pan and, working in two batches, brown the meatballs on all sides and transfer to a prepared baking dish. Pop into your preheated oven and let bake until meatballs are completely cooked through, about 15 minutes.

To serve spoon a generous amount of the fire roasted tomato sauce into a serving platter and place the hot meatballs on top. Either that, or get out a big bowl and drown the little guys in a deep pool of the delicious tomato sauce. To each their own! Best served with warm garlic bread to soak up all of the tomato-y goodness.

Yields 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce, 20 meatballs

Total cook time…45 min

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