sausage meatballs marinara

So what to do with homemade Italian sausages made by those who know what they’re doing? I’m told, most would simply grill them in their entirety and make that Italian sausage the star – nothing wrong with that! Others, (yours truly in particular), want to make them shine in an out-of-the-box kind of way – so here’s me getting rid of the box!

With a simple pinch & slide, every inch or 2, you can have meatballs faster than you every thought possible – and the best part is when you wrap your head around the 100’s of varieties of sausages one can stumble upon (now, now, this is a family show) your meatball repertoire just went through the roof – we’re talking every flavour combination imaginable! So head to your local butcher and see what all the fuss is about and start serving your sausages out of the box, or rather, the casing – and make every day cloudy with a chance of meatballs!

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1. Start your sauce – chop an onion, mince some garlic and heat up a pan.

2. Get it softening while you grab your tomatoes.

3. I use my little slow cooker, but a pot on the stove will work just fine.

4. Pile in your softened onions.

5. Mix it all around.

6. I raided my basil patch and chopped off many of their heads! Feel free to add whatever herbs in whatever form you have.

7. Run your knife through any fresh herbs.

8. Stir them into the tomatoes.

9. This was an afterthought, a spoonful of dried oregano.

10. Another big stir.

11. Lid on while you turn your attention to the main event – the sausages!

12. Gather your sausage of choice – this is homemade, old-school, by my Italian neighbour – you can’t beat that! My neighbour on the other side brings me fresh salmon straight from the ocean! I love my neighbours!

13. Get them on your board and get ready to pinch.

14. And this is how it’s done – every inch or 2 just pinch off a piece of sausage and slide it down the casing.

15. Until you’ve got a pile of sausage and a pile of casings.

16. Get them going in a hot skillet to sear to a golden brown.

17. Just like this.

18. Until you’ve got yourself a mess of gorgeous meatballs.

19. Move them to a plate lined with paper towel.

20. Put a few meatballs on the surface and gently submerge until you’ve got all your balls under the surface.

21. Give it a little drizzle of olive oil.

22. Put on the lid and let it stew for as long as you like – but at least 45 minutes.

23. Lift the lid to heaven – pile it in a roll, over pasta or rice or just eat it as is – betcha’ never thought a sausage could be so clever!

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sausage meatballs marinara

1. Using your fingers, pinch off a 1″-2″ piece of sausage and sauté them in a hot pan, remove, drain and set aside:

• any sausage you like, in any amount

2. Meanwhile start the sauce – add the following to a pan over medium-high heat:

• 1 onion, diced
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced

3. Put the following into a pot or slow cooker and simmer 10-15 minutes before adding the onion mixture:

• 1-2 tsps. dried oregano or a handful of fresh
• 1-2 tsp. dried basil or a handful of fresh
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• drizzle of olive oil

4. Stir to mix before tucking the sautéed meatballs into the tomato mixture. Allow to simmer for 45 minutes until the meatballs are thoroughly cooked. If you’re using a slow cooker, leave it on low, set it and forget it.

5. Dig in!

get creative

1. Use any custom sausage – there are 100’s of varieties
2. Serve over rice, pasta, in a roll or a bowl, over mashed potatoes or creamy coleslaw
3. Add a little stock and you’ve got stew, a little more and it’s soup