Recipe of the Week: Meatballs and Marinara from Cafe Lago

“Meatballs have always been on the menu at Café Lago,” the restaurant’s owner Carla Leonardi says. The rustic Italian spot in Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood has been dishing out its signature fare–handmade pastas, apple wood-fired pizzas, etc.–since it opened in 1990. “The meatball [recipe] comes from my ex-husband Jordi’s late Aunt Pauly, who lived in upstate New York.”

For its 25th anniversary, Café Lago perused its archive of original recipes to see if–and how–they had changed over the years. While some had been altered here and there from chef to chef, those classic meatballs remain “nearly identical to the day we opened,” Leonardi told us. And lucky for you, Lago’s full meatball and marinara recipe is listed below.

Look for more ways to celebrate Cafe Lago’s milestone year in the coming weeks. The restaurant is hosting several events throughout 2015, including two winemaker-hosted dinners this month. The April 8 date is already sold out, but dial the restaurant at 206.329.8005 to make a reservation for its second installment (date TBD), which will feature Woodinville’s JM Cellars.

“We cook Italian food, and we do it with the heart,” Leonardi says. “So while this recipe works as a guide, it’s not any individual step that makes it special, it’s the love. Pour yourself a glass of red wine, turn on your best Leonard Cohen album and truly enjoy the process.”

Café Lago’s Meatball and Marinara Recipe

Makes about 30 meatballs, enjoy them as they are or on pasta.

Ingredients:

Meatballs

1 1/3 cup fresh breadcrumb

2 tbsp milk

1 pound ground meat – 1/3 beef, 1/3 pork, and 1/3 veal (or 2/3 beef and 1/3 pork if you prefer)

1 cup Parmesan

1/3 cup chopped parsley

3 garlic cloves – pressed

1 tsp salt

pinch coarse ground pepper

2 eggs

Sauce

½ yellow onion – fine chopped

1/3 cup oil

1 16 oz can of whole roma tomatoes*

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

pinch oregano

a few chili flakes

*Pay attention to your tomatoes! Really good canned tomatoes are crucial because they define the quality of your sauce. We use DiNapoli Whole Peeled San Marzano from California because the DiNapoli family takes care to grow their tomatoes for flavor and they are very picky about gently packing each tomato so they stay intact in the can.

1) Our meatballs start with breadcrumbs, which are surprisingly critical to get right with this recipe. Using a food processer, blend fresh Italian loaf bread without the crust until you have 1 and 1/3 cup of crumbs.

2) Add about ¼ cup of milk to the crumb mix and set aside. The goal is for the crumbs to be moist but not drenched.

3) While the crumbs are soaking get your sauce started by finely mincing ½ of a yellow onion.

4) Caramelize the onions with 1/3 cup olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat.

5) As the onions cook, we get back to our meatballs. In a large bowl combine 1 cup Parmesan with 1/3 cup chopped parsley, three pressed garlic cloves, 1 tsp salt and a pinch of coarse ground pepper.

6) Now check your breadcrumbs, they should feel like slightly moist but fresh breadcrumbs, even if you are using older bread. Adjust the crumbs if needed by taking a 1/3 of the too moist crumbs out and switching them for fresh crumbs, or by adding more milk and allowing to sit for a few minutes.

7) When your crumbs are ready add them to your large bowl of Parmesan and mix at all together.

8) At this point the onions should be just about ready, so let’s get back to the sauce. Using that food processor, puree 8 cups of whole canned roma tomatoes. When teaching our tomato sauce we always say this: when you think you’ve pureed the tomatoes long enough, go a little longer.

9) Add tomato puree to the now caramelized onions along with a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of sugar, one pinch oregano and a few chili flakes. Leave it on a medium heat while you finish your meatbal

10) In your large bowl of breadcrumbs and Parmesan, combine 1/3 pound each of veal, pork, and beef (or 2/3 pound beef and 1/3 pound pork) and another pinch of salt. Incorporate the meat using a twisting/clawing motion with your fingers, be gentle you don’t want to over work the mixture. If you use meat you purchased that day it will be much easier.

11) Make a small bowl in the meat and crack two eggs into it. Using your hands or a fork, lightly beat the eggs. Once they are beaten, gently incorporate the eggs into your larger mixture. Refrigerate your meatball mix for 30 minutes, turning the heat down on your tomato sauce if necessary.

12) Roll out your meatball without overworking the meat and drop them into your bubbling tomato sauce. In the old days, we dipped our fingers in milk to keep them from sticking to the meatballs. Nowadays we use gloves, but for years that’s how we did it.

13) Cook your meatballs for 10 minutes in the sauce. Pull one out and cut it in half to see if it’s still pink inside, if not, enjoy!

These meatballs can be prepared earlier in the day to be finished later. Simply undercook the meatballs slightly. When you are ready, pop the meatballs back in bubbling tomato sauce for an additional 5 minutes and enjoy. They can be frozen, but we never do.