Meatball Sunday Part 1: Starring Mary the Meatball Maker

Mary is my sister. She wanted to be a meatball maker when she was 7. We laughed at her.

Two decades later, she makes the best meatballs in town. I always fancied myself a good meatball maker too but these days, I always defer to her and call her for a consult whenever I decide to make them. Even mom likes them and anyone in a cooking Italian family knows that that's saying something.

Mary was kind enough to give me permission to share her secrets with you. If you are a person who likes to follow a recipe, I'm asking you to abandon that tendency for today. What you are about to read makes no sense but somehow works and works well. Believe me.

Step 1: You need gravy/sauce. (We can debate gravy vs. sauce another time). You need to make the sauce first because you will finish cooking the meatballs in the sauce. That's part of the (not-so-much-anymore) secret.

Tomato Sauce for Spaghetti a la Mary (a.k.a. Gravy)
Press 3-4 garlic cloves and saute them in a little bit of olive oil in the bottom of your stock pot.

Add 4, 28oz cans of tomato sauce. (found with the canned tomatoes not the jarred, pre-made spaghetti sauce)

Keeping your stove at medium heat, add your seasonings. Mar calls this the "layer effect."

Sprinkle the following ingredients in layers on top of the tomato sauce.
garlic powder
onion powder
salt
pepper
grated cheese

I'm sorry I can't be more specific. You'll just have to try it adjusting the amounts as you go. Add a swirl of balsamic vinegar. (Weird, I know. Just do it. You've gone this far.)

Here's the layered and swirly goodness.

Stir from the bottom and mix well. This will look chunky but eventually, the ingredients will blend well and it will be smooth again.

Stir to incorporate the seasonings.

Finally, add 3-4 tablespoons of sugar. Simmer the sauce and add the meat (see Part II). After you add the meat, cover and simmer on medium heat. Stir the sauce occasionally and eventually reduce heat to low After a couple of hours, you can remove the lid and continue to simmer on low heat until you're ready to serve. Again, sounds crazy but this is how she does it and no one ever complains while they're eating.