A little different than traditional Italian meatballs, Sicilian Meatballs with pine nuts and currants bake in a basil marinara sauce. They will be your new favorite meatball!
This post originally was published in September of 2017. Updates in August of 2020 include photos, detailed recipe instructions and nutrition, and cooking tips.
With two of our kids living on their own and one entering his junior year of college, my maternal instinct to prepare food for them has taken on a new form. Instead of gathering around the dinner table for our nightly meals, I entrust the post office or FedEx to deliver many packages of food to my now grown children. Rarely does a holiday pass without a package filled with sprinkle covered sugar cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels, or thick and chewy brownies landing on my kids’ doorsteps. These Sicilian Meatballs are one of their favorites!
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As the date approached for our son to return to school this fall, I prepared a few of his favorites to take with him. He packed the car for his 11-hour journey to Indiana and was sure to leave room for the large cooler packed with frozen food I prepared for easy meals for him and his roommates. Homemade Chicago style stuffed pizzas, quarts of marinara with fresh basil, and creamy roasted tomato soup, and barbecue pork tenderloin for slider sandwiches were a few options which were nestled in ice packs to ensure their safe arrival on the college campus.
the ingredients for Sicilian meatballs
Unlike traditional Italian meatballs, this Sicilian counterpart includes sweet, tiny currants and crunchy, mild and slightly buttery pine nuts. These two ingredients are frequent additions to dishes from this region of Italy. Currants are a smaller versions and taste very similar to raisins. They are available at the grocery store and typically displayed with other dried fruits.
- canned crushed tomatoes
- Italian herb blend
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- bread
- whole milk
- large eggs
- garlic
- fresh parsley
- dried oregano
- allspice
- meatloaf mix ~ a combo of ground beef, pork and veal
- seasoned bread crumbs
- currants
- pine nuts
- Parmesan cheese
- loaf of crusty bread ~ a must to serve along side!
One of my favorite and time saving features of this recipe is that the meatballs bake in the oven right in the basil, oregano, and thyme spiked crushed tomato sauce. Cooking the meatballs in the sauce accomplishes three important aspects of the recipe. The meatballs soak up the Italian flavors of the sauce as they bake. The sauce is enhanced and has a richer taste from meatballs baking in it. And lastly it speeds up preparation of the recipe with less hands-on prep time. There is no need to stand at the stove tending to the meatballs as the cook.
chef cooking tips for meatballs
- The meatballs are extra tender with the addition of bread soaked and mashed with whole milk. Be sure to really mash the bread. You do not want any bread chunks in the meatballs.
- Be sure to gently mix the meatball ingredients. You want to mix the ingredients until just combined. Over mixing makes for tough meatballs.
- Try not to tightly form the meatballs. This makes for a rubbery and overly chewy meatball. Oil your hands to help easily for the mixture into balls.
- Form all meatballs to be the same size. This will ensure that they all cook at the same rate.
Serve the baked Sicilian meatballs with a side of your favorite pasta and a simple green salad, tucked into long rolls for a satisfying sandwich, or with chunks of crusty bread to sop up the delicious sauce. Sicilian Meatballs with Basil Marinara is a filling and delicious comfort food recipe that would be a welcome addition to any freezer.
If you make these delicious Sicilian meatballs, I’d love hearing from you all. Be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating ~ I do my best to reply to all your comments. And snap a photo to post to Instagram. I’ll add the photos to my Insta stories as I love seeing all your creations.
my videos ~ homemade marinara with fresh basil
Print
Sicilian Meatballs with Basil Marinara
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
Description
A little different than traditional Italian meatballs, Sicilian Meatballs are flecked with pine nuts and currants and bake in a basil marinara sauce. They will be your new favorite meatball!
Ingredients
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon Italian herb blend
- 2 teaspoons salt (divided)
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper (divided)
- 2 slices of sandwich bread (white or wheat, torn into small pieces)
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 1 1/2 pounds ground meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal)
- 2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs
- ¼ cup dried currants
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for serving)
- 1 loaf of crusty bread (for serving)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, pour in the crushed tomatoes. Add the Italian herb blend, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and stir to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the bread and milk. Using a fork, mash the bread until it resembles a paste. Add the eggs, garlic, parsley, oregano, and allspice and stir to combine. Add the ground meat, bread crumbs, currants, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and mix gently to combine the ingredients.
- Form the meatball mixture into 16 meatballs and place in baking dish with the crushed tomatoes. Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.
- Serve meatballs and sauce in flat bowls with chunks of crusty bread to soak up the sauce.
- Note: The meatballs and sauce can be frozen together in a resealable freezer bag, glass storage container, or plastic storage container. To serve, thaw meatballs and sauce in the refrigerator overnight. The entrée can be heated in 1 of 3 ways.
- Heat in the oven in an oven safe dish at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes.
- Heat in the microwave on 70 percent power for 2 minutes. Continue heating at 1 minute intervals until heated through.
- Heat in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Stir occasionally and heat for a total time of about 10 – 20 minutes.
Notes
- The meatballs are extra tender with the addition of bread soaked and mashed with whole milk. Be sure to really mash the bread. You do not want any bread chunks in the meatballs.
- Be sure to gently mix the meatball ingredients. You want to mix the ingredients until just combined. Over mixing makes for tough meatballs.
- Try not to tightly form the meatballs. This makes for a rubbery and overly chewy meatball. Oil your hands to help easily for the mixture into balls.
- Form all meatballs to be the same size. This will ensure that they all cook at the same rate.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: entree
- Method: bake in oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/5 of recipe
- Calories: 618
- Sugar: 4.1 g
- Sodium: 1330 mg
- Fat: 39.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 14.9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.9 g
- Fiber: 1.7 g
- Protein: 51.1 g
- Cholesterol: 241 mg
Keywords: Sicilian meatballs, meatballs homemade, dinner ideas, Italian recipes
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