You know how you hear that slow cooked marinara sauce is the best? It’s because it simmers on the stove for hours or sometimes all day…
Slow cooked marinara sauce makes your house smell heavenly, and when it’s finally ready, it is truly bellissimo!
As an Italian girl, I know sometimes great food takes a little extra time to prepare. But lucky you, you get to cheat a little with this recipe and simply plug in your crock pot. It will do most of the work while you get to take a bow at the end of the meal. [av_sidebar widget_area=’Lockerdome’ av_uid=’av-2g0tn2′]
I used my favorite canned tomato, San Marzano, for this recipe.
I gotta tell you, my hubby is not a fan of meatballs. I know, he’s just weird. So when I said I was making this recipe, he just shrugged. I knew he was thinking who eats those little balls of meat anyway?
Then he tasted them, and changed his opinion real fast. He loved them so much he had them for dinner last night, and again today for lunch. Need I say more?
Another great idea for these is to serve them as appetizers at cocktail parties. Just make them a little smaller and stick those cute little toothpicks in them and your crowd will love them!
Give them a try.
Ciao peeps!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs, of grass-fed beef (or another meat of your choice)
- 1 large onion, diced small (set aside one half for the sauce)
- 4 cloves of minced garlic (set aside one half for the sauce)
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1/4 cup of fresh, chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- (1) 28-oz can of San Marzano plum tomatoes with sauce
- (1) 15-oz can of tomato sauce
- The other half of the diced onions and minced garlic (see meatball ingredients above)
- 1 tsp of dried oregano
- 1 tsp of dried basil
- 2 Tbsp of fresh chopped parsley
- 1/2 to 1 tsp of sea salt
- A healthy pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Sauté onions in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for 5-7 minutes
- Next season with salt, add garlic, and cook for one additional minute
- Remove from heat
- Add half of the onion/garlic to the crockpot, and set the other half aside
- Add remaining ingredients for the sauce into crock pot
- Break apart the tomatoes in the crock pot so they are not whole
- Set crockpot to low
- Add ground beef to the bowl you set aside of the chopped onions and minced garlic
- Add the rest of the meatball ingredients to the same bowl
- GENTLY combine all the meatball ingredients with your hands – do not over mix or your meatballs will turn out tough
- Preheat a medium or large frying pan with few tablespoons of coconut or olive oil over medium heat
- Form meatballs by hand -- make each about the size of a golf ball
- Place meatballs in the heated frying pan, to get a nice brown on the surface. (they should still be raw in the center and will be cooked through in the crock pot)
- Transfer browned meatballs directly into the crock pot
- Cook in crock pot on low 4-6 hours
- Garnish with fresh parsley and serve hot
- Enjoy!