Homemade Maranara With Italian Sausage & Meatballs

Submitted by Heather N.

"We coined this recipe affectionately as "Rae's Spaghetti" as that is the family friend that we recieved the recipe from. This sauce is very hearty and filling. I usually only prepare a salad and garlic bread to accompany it. This sauce also freezes well so I often make a double batch,"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 21
• Yields: 1 stock pot
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 2 (32 ounce) cans whole tomatoes
• 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 small-medium onion, diced
• 4 links sweet Italian sausage, halved
• olive oil (for browning sausage)
• 1⁄8 teaspoon oregano
• 1⁄8 teaspoon basil
• 1⁄8 teaspoon bay leaf
• 1⁄2 teaspoon minced garlic or 1/2 teaspoon one clove, minced
• salt & pepper (to taste)

• Meat Balls

• 1 lb ground beef (can also use pork, turkey or chicken or a combination)
• 1 egg, beaten lightly
• 1⁄3 cup breadcrumbs or 1/3 cup cracker crumb
• 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese (grated or shreaded)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon oregano
• 1⁄8 teaspoon basil
• 1⁄8 cup parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

directions

1. Prepare Sauce:

2. empty 2 cans of whole tomatoes into a food processor and puree.
3. add in dried herbs and spices (oregeno, basil, bay leaves, garlic).
4. Place contents from food processor into large stock pot.
5. Place on medium low heat and simmer.
6. add sugar to sauce mixture.
7. Cut sausage into halves and brown (do NOT cook throughly) over medium heat in olive oil.
8. Add diced onion into stock pot.
9. Remove browned sausages from skillet (discard oil) and add into sauce mixture in stock pot.

10. Prepare meat balls:

11. in large bowl combine meat, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Hand mix until combined well.
12. Add in egg and cracker crumbs or bread crumbs. Combine well.
13. Add in parsley, combine well.
14. Roll into meatballs.
15. Drop RAW meatballs into sauce. In order for meat to cook through throughly they must remain in simmering sauce for a minimum of 40 minutes. Be careful not to stir sauce to vigorously during first 20-30 minutes as that may break up your meatballs, just stir enough to make sure meatballs are completely submerged in sauce. Once 40-50 minutes has elapsed sauce should be ready to eat, as the meat should be cooked. I prefer allowing sauce to simmer on low heat for a 2-4 hours, as the longer this sauce cooks the better it tastes. The meat also absorbs more flavor from the sauce itself. As long as you cook meats at least 40-50 minutes in sauce mixture you should be fine. This does however change based on the size of the meatballs you make. I make ones around the size of a golf ball. Larger meatballs take longer to cook. You can always take one out and cut it in half to see if they are cooked through throiughly.
16. Enjoy!