Key Takeaways:
- Rich Flavor Combination: This Pasta Sauce with Meatballs and Sausage combines a classic marinara base with two types of meat, offering a deliciously hearty meal perfect for meat lovers.
- Homemade Ingredients Shine: Homemade tomato puree and stewed tomatoes provide a fresh and vibrant taste to the sauce, but canned options work as a convenient alternative.
- Layered Cooking Process: Simmer the tomato sauce first to enhance flavors, then prepare and add the meatballs and sausage in stages for optimal taste and texture.
- Herbs Matter: Fresh herbs add a vibrant touch, but frozen herbs (stored properly) and dried options are great substitutes when needed.
- Meatball and Sausage Preparation: Baking the meatballs and browning the sausage before adding them to the sauce ensures they retain their texture and infuse the sauce with flavor.
- Balancing the Acidity: A couple of tablespoons of sugar can offset the sauce’s acidity, while seasoning adjustments with salt ensure a well-rounded flavor profile.
Overview
Pasta Sauce with Meatballs and Sausage is the ultimate hearty, meat-lover’s Italian dish packed with rich flavor and comfort. This classic marinara-based sauce is made with fresh or canned tomatoes, garlic, Italian herbs, and a splash of red wine, then simmered low and slow for depth. Juicy baked meatballs and savory Italian sausage—whether sweet or spicy—are added to create a robust, protein-packed sauce that pairs perfectly with homemade fettuccine, ravioli, or any pasta of your choice. Balanced with fresh herbs, a hint of sweetness to cut acidity, and a rustic, homemade touch, this recipe is ideal for family dinners, Sunday feasts, or anyone craving authentic Italian comfort food.
Pasta Sauce with Meatballs and Sausage is soooo tasty.
This is a classic marinara sauce with lots of meat. This is also the sauce for all the meat lovers in your life. It has two kinds of meat. Put it on some homemade fettucini or homemade ravioli. My favorite is the simple vegan marinara sauce. The marinara sauce is also the base for this meat-lovers pasta sauce with meatballs and sausage. Farmer Fred’s favorite is spicy sausage. He isn’t much of a meatball lover. However, I added the meatballs as I’m not much of a spicy sausage lover. So, between the two of us, we lick the pasta platter clean.
Tomato Sauce:I get the tomato sauce simmering first. Once it is simmering, and it’s delicious aroma filling my kitchen, I make the meatballs and cook up the sausage. I use my home jarred tomato puree and stewed tomatoes. They give the sauce a bright fresh taste and lots of flavor. If you didn’t get a chance to can some tomatoes then purchase cans of whole and sauce tomatoes, Add in the Italian seasonings, fresh herbs are best. However, dried herbs will be ok. Add the garlic, a veal neck bone (optional), a little red wine, and start it simmering.
Fresh Frozen Herbs: My SIS (simple is smart) tip for fresh herbs all year long. When you have extra fresh herbs simply take the leaves off the stems and put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Then next time you need fresh herbs for cooking take out what you need and use in your recipe. Take care to not defrost the rest of the bag.
Meatballs: Once the sauce is simmering mix up and bake the meatballs. Add all the ingredients for the meatballs to a bowl and mix well. Form the meatballs with a cookie scoop or your fingers. Either will work. Bake the meatballs prior to adding to the sauce. Once the meatballs are baked add them to the sauce at the end of the first hour.
Sausage: Use spicy or sweet sausage Italian sausage. Poke a few holes in each sausage and boil them in about 1/2 inch water in the fry pan. Once the water has all boiled off add a teaspoon of oil to the pan and fry them until they are browned all over. At the end of the second hour add the sausage to the pasta sauce with meatballs. hour. Continue to simmer the sauce for another 30 minutes and then adjust the acidity with a couple of tbsp of sugar if needed. The sauce will have a bitter taste if it’s too acidic. Add salt to taste at this time also.
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FAQ:
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Sauce for Pasta with Meatballs and Italian sausage
Equipment
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- large kettle (6 quart)
Ingredients
- 2 quarts tomato sauce home-jarred is best. Purchase two 28 ounce cans if you don't have home-jarred.
- 2 quarts whole tomatoes home-jarred stewed tomatoes are best. Purchase two 28 ounce cans of whole plum tomatoes if you don't have home-jarred.
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1 veal neck bone
- 8 cloves garlic chopped
- ½ cup red wine merlot or malbec
- 1 tbsp basil minced fresh
- 1 tbsp oregano minced fresh
- 1 tsp marjoram minced fresh
- 1 tsp thyme minced fresh
- 1 tbsp Italian parsley minced fresh
MeatBalls
- 1 lb ground beef 85% lean
- 2 eggs add 3 eggs if ground beef is more than 85% lean
- ¾ cup bread crumbs moistened with the milk. About 80% of the crumbs should be moistened
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp salt
Italian Sausage
- 8 Italian sausages spicy or sweet
Instructions
Tomato Sauce
- Blend the whole tomatoes in a blender and add to a large kettle. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients, stir well to mix.
- Add the browned Italian Sausage.
- Simmer for 2 hours stirring occasionally
- At the end of the first hour add the meatballs and simmer for the second hour.
- At the end of two hours, increase the heat to bring the sauce to an almost boil. Add salt to taste and adjust acidity by adding up to 2 tbsp sugar. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the starchy pasta water to thin to a good consistency. Serve over the pasta of your choice.
Italian Sausage
- Cut small slits in the side of the sausage links and place sausage in a frying pan with ¼ inch of water.
- Bring water to boil and cook the sausage in boiling water until water has evaporated.
- Once water is all evaporated, add 1 tsp oil to the pan and fry sausage until browned on all sides.
- Add sausage to the tomato sauce.
Meatballs
- Place ground hamburger in a bowl and add all of the other ingredients.
- Mix well. Form meatballs with a cookie scoop or your hands moistened with a little water to keep the meat from sticking to your fingers.
- Place the meatballs on a parchment covered cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes, then add to the sauce at the end of the first hour of cooking.
- Makes about 18 meatballs
