Sunday dinner of meatballs with meat sauce in a slow cooker

Votes: 3

How to Make - Slow Cooker Meatballs with Meat Sauce for Sunday Dinner

Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Complexity: easily
Servings: 6 - 8

Prepare the most delicious Sunday lunch with meatballs and a sauce made with beef, pork, and spicy Italian sausage, all simmered in a slow cooker. Sunday sauce is traditionally made in Italian families. It's typically based on tomatoes or tomato paste and inexpensive cuts of meat or ground Italian sausage. You won't have to spend the entire weekend at the stove, overseeing the sauce. For the meat base, it's best to use meaty beef ribs and pork spare ribs, located closer to the shoulder, as they have plenty of meat and few bones. Simmer the meat and sausage in tomato sauce, and at the very end of cooking, toss the ground beef meatballs into the sauce. The sauce is delicious and filling. Serve it with pasta or polenta, which will soak up the sauce beautifully.

The recipes use measuring containers with the following volumes:
1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.

Ingredients for the recipe:

Meatballs

0.5 kg of ground beef tenderloin
0.5 tbsp. grated parmesan
1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 large egg
For serving: pasta or polenta
Special equipment: multicooker with a capacity of 6-8 liters.

Sauce

1 kg beef ribs with meat (short ribs)
0.5 kg of meaty pork ribs
1 tbsp. l. olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
0.5 cup tomato paste
0.5 cups dry red wine
1 can (800g) of canned peeled tomatoes in their own juice
4 sweet or spicy Italian sausages
Red pepper flakes, optional

Ingredient Substitution Suggestions

We recommend

Recipes with similar ingredients: beef, pork, kupaty (fried sausages), pureed tomatoes, red wine, Parmesan cheese, parsley

Cooking the dish according to the recipe:

For the sauceAdd oil to a 6-quart slow cooker and set the cooker to saute. Add the beef ribs and brown thoroughly. Transfer to a plate, add the pork ribs and brown thoroughly. Transfer to a plate. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is golden and the garlic is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir well to coat the onion. Pour in the wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce has reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, then add the beef, pork, sausage, 1 tablespoon salt, a little ground black pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes, if using.

Following the manufacturer's instructions, close the lid and prepare the multicooker for use. Set the pressure cooker to high pressure and cook for 50 minutes.
For meatballs: Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the ground meat, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, milk, parsley, garlic, egg, a little salt and ground black pepper, and mix well with a wooden spoon. Form into balls 2.5-5 cm in diameter.
After the pressure cooker cycle is complete, follow the manufacturer's instructions for quick pressure release and wait for the quick release cycle to complete. Be careful not to burn yourself with residual steam when unlocking and opening the lid.
Carefully remove the beef, pork, and sausage. Skim off any excess fat from the sauce and discard. When the meat is cool enough to handle, remove and discard any bones and excess fat. Cut the meat and sausage into pieces. Return the meat to the sauce and add the meatballs to the slow cooker. Close the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
After the pressure cooker cycle is complete, follow the manufacturer's instructions for quick pressure release and wait for the quick release cycle to complete. Carefully, to avoid scalding from any remaining steam, unlock and open the lid. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with pasta or polenta.