Gratinated meat and ricotta meatballs

You can give a different twist to an everyday, traditional dish like meatballs in sauce in a very easy way: this Gratinated meat and ricotta cheese meatball recipe They turn out absolutely delicious. A complete dish that both kids and adults at home will love!

Thus we celebrate the Le Creuset Week that we have started and that will remain valid until this coming Sunday, February 28. We believe it is a wonderful way to show that pieces as durable and unique as cocottes will help you make the most everyday and traditional recipes with the best results.

In this case we use the low casserole, for properly spacing the cocottes across a large surface, but you can make it just as well in a casserole traditional.

Low cocotte-style Shallow Casserole by Le Creuset

Ingredients

For the meatballs and the ricotta:

• 500 g of mixed ground beef and pork
• 240 g of ricotta cheese
• 50 g of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 beaten egg
• 5 g of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp dried oregano or 2 tsp fresh oregano
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs
• Olive oil

For the basil sauce with tomato:

• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 400 g of crushed tomatoes
• 5 g of fresh basil
• 1 tsp of sugar
• Salt and pepper
• 200 g of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 50 g of grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Para prepare the meatballs, preheat the oven to 200 °C. Add the breadcrumbs to a food processor fitted with a metal blade (a chopper or a food processoruntil finely ground).
2. Place the breadcrumbs in a large mixing bowl. Add the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, fennel, oregano, and pepper, and mix. Add the ground meat mixture and combine everything. Shape the meat into meatballs about 3 cm in size, making around 12 balls (you can do this with a pair of spoons, with your hands, or with croquette and meatball tongs).
3. Place it all in the Le Creuset low Shallow Casserole, in the preheated oven. Do not remove until the mixture is well cooked, about 20 minutes. Remove everything from the oven and set aside on a plate. The Shallow Casserole should be left free for the sauce, so do not clean it. Do not turn off the oven.
4. For the sauce, add the olive oil in the same Shallow Casserole where you cooked the meatballs. When it is hot, add the onion and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Sauté until the garlic is cooked but not browned, about 1 minute.
5. Add the tomatoes to the sautéed mixture. Mix everything together and simmer the sauce until it reduces slightly, for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the basil and sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the meatballs in the sautéed mixture and combine everything with the sauce.
7. Cover the meatballs with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and place them in the preheated oven. Bake until the cheese melts and bubbles, about 10 minutes. There you have it, enjoy!