Recipe: Braised Meatballs in Red Wine Tomato Sauce for Donna

Dear Donna: I can understand from your posting that you are interested in a Red wine Sauce using 2 cups of red wine. I have seen a lot of recipes, very good ones, but with 1 cup, 1/2 cup or even 1/4 cup of wine. This is the only one with your 2 cups of red wine. Good luck in reproducing your dish!

BRAISED MEATBALLS IN RED WINE TOMATO SAUCE
Source: adapted from a recipe found in the T-Fal magazine

1 (6-ounce) piece day-old French bread (generous 1/3 of 16-ounce loaf), crust left on, bread cut into 8 pieces
1 cup milk
1 3/4 pounds ground beef
2 large eggs
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup minced parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups dry red wine (please, be sure to find & use your delicious Chianti)
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 cups canned beef broth
Optional:
1 (10-ounce) package of frozen peas or mixed vegetables (add 10 minutes before the end the cooking time)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine bread pieces and milk in medium bowl, pressing on bread to submerge; let stand until milk is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Squeeze out most of milk from bread; discard milk.

Place bread in large bowl. Add ground beef, eggs, finely chopped onion, parsley, salt, pepper, and dried oregano and mix well. Form mixture into 1 3/4-inch-diameter meatballs (about 30). Place meatballs on a large greased baking pan.

Bake meatballs 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.

Place meatballs in a large covered skillet. Whisk wine and tomato paste in small bowl to blend. Add wine mixture to meatballs and bring to boil. Continue boiling, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add broth, reduce heat to medium and simmer until flavors blend and gravy thickens, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer meatballs and gravy to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon parsley and serve.

Servings: 6-8

Serving suggestion: Serve with white rice or buttered noodles, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese.