Marinara....simplistic but necessary for any cook! Plus some meatballs :)

Tonight I made one damn good pot of sauce. Although its impossible to duplicate my elder relatives, I really like my combo. Not much to it.....

Ingredients

2 big cans of crushed tomatoes (I used my mom's canned tomatoes)
3 carrots, chopped finely
1 medium onion, chopped finely
3 stalks of celery, chopped finally
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch of fresh basil
1 bunch fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil


Directions
1. Using a knife or food processor, chop carrot, onion, and celery to bits.
2. In a large sauce pot, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom and add chopped veggies, along with minced garlic.
3. Cook until onions are transparent.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for an hour or so.
5. If you are going to add meat, simmer for about 15 minutes before doing so.
Enjoy alone or with meatballs made from recipe below!




Meatballs
2 lbs of meatloaf mix (pork beef and veal) or all beef
4 slices of bread dipped in milk and broken into small pieces
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste



Directions
1. Mix all ingredients together except meat.
2. Once ingredients are combined, add might and mix through handling as little as possible.
3. Form into balls of desired size.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes to release some of the fat.
5. Add to pot of sauce and cook for another 20 minutes.

NOTE: The less you handle the meatballs, the less dense they will be. You will get nice light and fluffy meatballs as a result of proper handling. Omit cheese and use unsweetened soy milk for non dairy meatballs. Also, buttermilk can be used to dip bread in and provide meatballs with some acidity to break down fat.