gordon's meatballs

Regardless of what you think about Gordon Ramsay's TV antics, one thing's for certain: he's a culinary genius. You don't win 16 Michelin Stars as a hoax or by making TV shows filled with the F word. I've made several of Chef Ramsay's dishes here, here and here and I've enjoyed all of his recipes. It's been awhile since I've had meatballs and I decided to make Gordon's version for Sunday night dinner.

I adapted Chef's recipe slightly from the original. I increased the amount of breadcrumbs and added an egg yolk to enrich the meatballs even more. I also added a dash of Worcestershire sauce to compliment the spicy tomato sauce. I didn't have any sage on hand so I used basil instead. I still have Antico's on my mind from Saturday. Such an amazing, delicious piece of art.

After searing off the formed meatballs, they're finished in the oven with the reduced tomato sauce. The end result is a soft and tender meatball with a nice spicy kick from the tomato sauce. I might double the recipe next time because the sauce and the meatballs freeze well. A clutch dinner for those nights you don't feel like cooking.

As a suggestion, I would use crushed instead of chopped tomatoes - another adaptation I'll be making next time I tackle this recipe. I feel like crushed San Marzano's would make for a thicker and smoother sauce that should compliment the meatballs well. Half chopped and half crushed may work well also.

Gordon's Meatballs with Spiced Tomato Sauce

Adapted from Gordon Ramsay, Makes About 16 Meatballs

Ingredients: (Meatballs)

- 1.5 cups of breadcrumbs

- 0.5 cup milk

- 1 medium onion, finely chopped

- 2 garlic cloves, crushed

- 1 egg yolk

- 1lb of ground pork and ground chuck (2lbs total)

- 0.25 cup freshly grated Parmesan

- zest of 1 lemon

- 0.5 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

- bunch of parlsey and sage (I used basil), finely chopped

Ingredients: (Sauce)

- 1 medium onion, finely chopped

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

- 1 teaspoon cumin

- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes

- 1 tablespoon tomato puree

- 800g can of chopped tomatoes

- 1 cup of dry white wine

1) To make the sauce, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a hot pan and sweat down the onions for about 8 minutes until softened. Make sure the onions aren't browning.

2) Add the garlic, cumin and red chili flakes and sweat down for 2 minutes until fragrant.

3) Make a well in the middle and sweat off the tomato puree, about 30 seconds. Deglaze with the cup of white wine and add the chopped tomatoes after the wine has reduced by half.

4) Season with salt, pepper and bring the sauce back up to a boil. Simmer and reduce for about 30 minutes or until you finish making the meatballs.

5) To make the meatballs, put the breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl and soak them in the milk. Meanwhile, saute the finely diced onions and crushed garlic in a hot pan for about 5 minutes. After cooking the onions and garlic, pour into a bowl and leave to cool down.

6) Finely chop the herbs, grate the Parmesan cheese, and zest the lemon. Once the onion/garlic cools down, combine everything in the same mixing bowl with the breadcrumbs. Season generously with salt/pepper and add the Worcestershire sauce.

7) Form the meat mixture into golf sized meatballs. Once formed, add olive oil to a hot pan and brown the meatballs on all sides for 3 - 5 minutes working in batches. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F while you do this.

8) Once all the meatballs have been browned and the oven is preheated, Pour the tomato sauce into a baking dish and place the meatballs on top. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes.

9) After the 15 minutes are up, remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

10) Serve with your favorite pasta, freshly grated Parmesan and chopped herbs.