1poundground beef (minced beef) - or pork if you prefer
1largewhite onion - diced
½headgarlic - crushed
1teaspoonchili flakes (chilli flakes in British English)
¼cupbread crumbs
2teaspoonsdried basil
2teaspoonsdried oregano
½teaspoonground black pepper
TO MAKE THE SAUCE:
1largewhite onion - chopped
½headgarlic - crushed
½poundmushrooms
10gramsdried ground porcini mushrooms
1large cantomato - diced
2cupsred wine
¼cupthyme - you can substitute rosemary or basil here if you want
Instructions
To make the meatballs, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly until everything is evenly mixed together. Then, separate the mixture into 12 portions and roll it into meatballs.
In an oven-ready frying pan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil and sear the meatballs, turning as needed. Once the outside of the meatballs are seared, remove them from the pan and set them aside on a plate covered with a paper towel.
In the same pan, sauté mushrooms, onions and garlic (add salt and pepper) and cook until onions are translucent (approximately 5 minutes).
Once the vegetables are adequately cooked, deglaze the pan with the wine. Bring to a boil and reduce the mixture by half. At this stage, add the tomatoes, rosemary and dried porcini mushrooms. Bring to boil once again, add the meatballs and cover them in the sauce.
Place the sauce and meatballs in a 330-degree oven and cook for at least two hours uncovered. At this stage, once the pan is removed from the oven, add salt and pepper to taste (this way, you will not over salt the sauce).
Serve the sauce and meatballs with any kind of 750 grams of Fettuccine or any pasta, grated parmesan cheese, and a nice piece of bread. Enjoy!