Italian beef meatballs with tomato sauce are a classic comfort food dish that's rich in flavor and perfect for any occasion. MaMa Florence's expert chefs teach the best tips and techniques for making the best meatballs in our Traditional Tuscan cooking classes!
For beef meatballs
• 300 g minced beef meat
• 2 tuscan sausages(if not available use 100g of
minced pork meat)
• 1 egg
• 1 minced onion
• 50g parmesan
• 1 medium potato, boiled, peeled and smashed
• 5g parsley
• Breadcrumbs as needed
• Olive oil as needed
• Nutmeg to taste
For tomato sauce
• 300 g crushed tinned tomatoes
• 4 clove garlic finely minced
• 1 bunch of Italian parsley finely minced
• Extra virgin olive oil as needed
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Boil the potato in medium-sized pot of boiling water. Once cooked through, remove from water,
peel and place in medium-sized bowl and mash the potato.
• Line baking tray with waxed paper, set aside.
• In large mixing bowl, combine minced beef, sausage filling, smashed potato, egg, minced onion,
parsley, nutmeg, parmesan, salt and pepper.
• Combine ingredients well, roll into small balls (of golfing ball size) and toss them into the
breadcrumbs. Then proceed by placing them onto baking tray. Set aside, preheat oven to 220°C.
• Coat bottom of large sauce pot with extra-virgin olive oil and when heated through add garlic and
parsley. Allow to cook over medium-low heat.
• Add tinned tomatoes, adjust to taste with salt, allow to cook over medium-low heat for at least 20
minutes.
• Cook meatballs in preheated oven for at least 15 minutes or until theyʼre cooked through. Be
careful not to overcook meatballs as they dry out easily.
• Finish cooking the meatballs in tomato sauce.
For a special twist you can stir fry the meatballs in a pan with some olive oil right after they
cooked in the oven.