Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
with cauliflower / green beans
Ingredients
- Shallots - 1 bulb, diced
- Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped
- Thyme leaves - 1 tsp, leaves torn
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Paprika - 1/4 tsp
- Tomatoes, crushed (28 oz / 794 g) - 1 can
- Beef, ground - 1 lb
- Eggs - 1
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Oregano, dried - 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Cauliflower - 12 oz, chopped
- Green beans, fresh or frozen - 12 oz, chopped into 1” / 2.5 cm pieces
- Butter - 1 Tbsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Cauliflower / Green beans / Shallots / Garlic / Thyme - Prep as directed. Store cauliflower, green beans, and shallots each in their own container. Combine garlic and thyme in another container. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make tomato sauce - (If prepping right before cooking, get water for cauliflower / green beans boiling before continuing with prep.) Heat a saucepan with olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and paprika and saute for 1 minute. Pour tomatoes over top and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Form meatballs - Combine beef, eggs, salt, oregano, and black pepper. Form into 1” / 2.5 cm wide meatballs. You should have ~4 meatballs per serving. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
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Make
- Bring a large stock pot of salted water to a boil.
- While water is coming to a boil, heat a skillet with cooking oil over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and saute on all sides until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Pour tomato sauce around meatballs and cover. Cook, covered, until meatballs are cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
- While meatballs cook, return to boiling water. Add cauliflower florets and boil, uncovered, for 2 minutes (the cauliflower will take a few minutes longer than the green beans). Add green beans and boil both together until tender, 4 to 6 minutes more.
- Drain cauliflower and green beans.
- Toss cauliflower and green beans with butter. Season generously with some salt and pepper.
- Serve meatballs and sauce with cauliflower and green beans on the side. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
41 reviews
I liked this dish and my husband said it was his favorite of all time. We did end up just using store bought sauce for this to make it easier.
It’s ok but used a million pots and pans. I didn’t see that it was a dependent meal so I had to make rice fresh. We like a sweeter sauce.
Loved the meatballs, and really love the method of cooking the potatoes & green beans! So simple!
Fairly easy, but I highly recommend either prepping by making the sauce ahead or use jarred sauce.