Sausage Meatballs with Ricotta in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 10 ounces ground pork shoulder 
• 10 ounces sausage sweet italian
• 2 ounces pancetta minced for 15 min first, before mincing, will make it easier to cut (helps to put in freezer )
• 4 cups bread white cubed
• 0.5 cup flat-leaf parsley fresh chopped
• 1 teaspoon oregano dried
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 
• 0.5 teaspoon pepper flakes red
• 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt 
• 0.7 cup ricotta cheese 
• 3  eggs lightly beaten
• 5 servings olive oil extra virgin 
• 28 ounce canned tomatoes crushed canned (, either San Marzano or Muir Glen)
• 0.3 cup chiffonaded* basil leaves fresh
• 0.5 cup parmesan cheese freshly grated

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• oven
• whisk
• roasting pan
• aluminum foil
• stove
• spatula

Directions

1. In a large bowl, add the pork, Italian sausage, prosciutto or pancetta, bread cubes, parsley, oregano, fennel, red pepper flakes, and salt. Use your hands to mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Do not over-work.
2. Incorporate eggs and ricotta:
3. Whisk the beaten eggs and ricotta together in a separate bowl until there are no more large clumps of ricotta.
4. Pour into the bowl of the meat mixture.
5. Mix with your hands until just incorporated. Again, do not over-mix.
6. If you want, to test seasoning, you can take a small bit of the mix, form into a patty, and heat in a small skillet on the stovetop until cooked through. Depending on how this test patty tastes to you, add more herbs, chili, or salt to taste to the meat mixture. Keep meat mixture in refrigerator while doing this.
7. Form meatballs and place in roasting pan: Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat the bottom of a large roasting pan with olive oil. Form meatballs in your hand, about 1 1/2-inches in diameter, using about 3 Tbsp of the mixture to form each meatball. Arrange in pan so there is some space between them. If too crowded they will steam and not brown.
8. meatballs in the oven at 425°F for about 30 minutes, turning the meatballs after about 20 minutes, until the meatballs are beginning to brown.
9. Add crushed tomatoes, lower oven temp:
10. Remove pan from oven. Use a metal spatula to dislodge meatballs from being stuck to the bottom of the pan.
11. Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan. Carefully cover the pan with aluminum foil (carefully because the pan is still hot!)
12. Return the pan to the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 300°F. Cook for an additional hour to 1 1/2 hours.
13. Sprinkle basil into sauce before serving.
14. Top with grated Parmesan.