Meatballs with Marinara and Soft Polenta
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There are few things more comforting than a bowl of saucy meatballs over soft, creamy polenta. I love making meatballs because they feed a crowd, keep in the fridge for a few days, and you can always freeze some of the meatballs before baking - giving your future self a really easy meal.
They also require very little effort - you toss everything in a big bowl and mix gently together, form them into balls, and then I bake these in the oven on a sheet tray - no tedious browning in a pan worrying they may fall apart. While they bake in the oven for 20 minutes I get a really simple batch of marinara going and start cooking the polenta. Once they are out of the oven they go straight into the sauce and hang out there until the polenta is finished - and the whole thing can be on the table in under 45 minutes.
If you want to add a little veg to this meal, I'd toss some olive oil salt and pepper coated broccolini into the oven 10 minutes before you're ready to eat, or toss together a simple green salad. The leftover polenta makes an amazing base for poached or crispy fried eggs the next morning - the key to heating up leftover polenta is to add a splash of water to it before microwaving, then give it all a big stir after reheating.
This recipe serves 4 for dinner with the amount of polenta it makes, but you could stretch the meatballs a bit further than that. The meatball recipe yields about 32 golf ball-sized meatballs (you can make them much bigger or much smaller, you'll just have to adjust the baking time up or down by a few minutes accordingly). I use regular panko breadcrumbs here, but you could absolutely sub GF panko to keep this entire dish gluten free!
Finally, the sauce recipe can be doubled with zero extra work - so I often make a double batch of marinara and then remove half of it from the pan before I add in the meatballs - it keeps in the fridge for 5 days and the freezer for 3 months. Serve a little extra sauce alongside the meatballs for anyone who likes a lot of tomato sauce, and use the rest to get you half way to your next dinner.
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 F and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a piece of parchment paper.
Add all of the meatball ingredients EXCEPT the olive oil to a large mixing bowl. Gently mix everything together with clean hands.
Gently form the mixture into golf ball sized balls and place them on the parchment lined baking sheet. You should have ~30-36 meatballs, depending on how large you shape them. It's best to keep an inch or so between them, but they won't really spread so no need to space them very far apart.
Place them in the oven and let them brown for 20 minutes.
If you don't want to cook off all the meatballs right away, place the ones you want to freeze on a separate small sheet tray lined with parchment and put them in the freezer. Once they are fully frozen through (an hour or two) transfer them to a ziplock or other airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month. When ready to bake them, you can let them defrost a bit in the fridge then bake them as directed above.
While your meatballs are browning, make the marinara. Heat the 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat in a medium sauce pan or wide skillet that's large enough to fit the meatballs.
Add the 1/4 cup finely diced onion, 1/4 teaspoon chili flake, 1 teaspoon dried oregano and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and sauté in the oil until the onion is softened, ~5 minutes. Add in the 2 cloves of minced garlic, followed by the 28 ounces of canned crush tomato (you can use diced tomato, it will just be less smooth of a sauce). Season the sauce with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt.
Bring the sauce up to a boil, then drop the heat to low and let it gently simmer, stirring occasionally, while the meatballs are browning in the oven.
Once your 20 minute oven timer is up, remove the meatballs from the oven and gently transfer them to the pan with the marinara, gently coating them in the sauce. Let them gently simmer while you finish making the polenta (below).
Once your marinara is assembled and simmering, start making your polenta. Bring the 5 cups water + 1 teaspoon of kosher salt to a boil in a medium pot or sauce pan.
Once the water is boiling, slowly stream in the 1 C polenta while whisking constantly with a large whisk. Continue cooking over high heat, whisking the whole time until the mixture thickens, ~2-3 minutes. If the heat is too much for your hand, put on an oven mitt while you whisk - it's important to whisk constantly until it starts to thicken.
Turn the heat to low and continue cooking, stirring every few minutes, for ~20 minutes. If at any point the polenta becomes too thick to easily stir, add up to an additional 1/2 cup of water to thin as necessary.
After ~20 minutes, add the remaining 2 teaspoons kosher salt, a few generous grinds of black pepper, and the parmesan cheese. Stir thoroughly.
Turn off the heat. Add the 5 tablespoons unsalted butter and stir until the butter is completely melted into the polenta.
Place the polenta in a serving bowl of choice (or in individual serving bowls). Top the polenta with the sauced meatballs, then sprinkle on extra grated parmesan and a drizzle of good olive oil to serve. Enjoy!
To reheat polenta, add a splash of water to it before microwaving or reheating on the stove. Mix thoroughly and you should be good to go!