Summer Sunday
With fall just around the corner, I am savoring every sweet moment of summer that remains. And this past Sunday I enjoyed a classic Southern California beach day, as Clare and I visited a friend at her gorgeous rental house, just steps from the water. We packed up the car with coffees and what approximately 100lbs of new magazines (W, Vogue, Bazaar, Vanity Fair, World of Interiors and the above T) and drove sixty miles north of LA where we arrived at a Nancy Myers-worthy beach house.
We spent the afternoon lounging around – reading magazines and catching up. We turned out a pretty tasty lunch spread.
Clare and I took a nice long walk on the beach and I realized that it was the first time that my feet had touched water all summer (tells you a bit about what I’ve been up to). It felt heavenly!
Happy/Cozy/Relaxed.
After working up a sweat, we poured some cold rosé and watched the sun start to set.
Magic hour ensued as we started cooking for our group of six adults and four kids. Nothing like big pot of simmering meatballs to feed a large table of hungry folks.
Dinner was perfect – homemade meatballs with pasta and salad. We used the Rao’s recipe, which led to some of the best meatballs I’ve tasted. Recipe below.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 lb ground veal
1/2 lb ground pork
4 large garlic cloves (3 minced and 1 reserved for frying)
2 tablespoons parsley
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups pecorino romano cheese, grated
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
2 cups cooking oil or 2 cups olive oil, for frying tomato sauce, of your choosing. (But really good in a tomato-basil sauce.)
Directions:
1 In a large bowl, place the meat and rub the minced garlic into it.
2 Press the meat in the bowl.
3 Add in this order: Salt, pepper, parsley, 2 eggs and water. Then sprinkle the cheese over the top as if you are going to cover the water. Finally, sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the cheese.
4 Mix from the outside of the bowl to the middle, folding it inches Do not overmix!
5 After the ingredients are mixed, start to roll the meatballs in your hands, about 6 ounces per meatball. 6 After your meatballs are rolled, take a 10 inch frying pan and add your oil and the reserved whole clove of garlic and heat. When the clove starts to brown, the oil is ready.
7 Fry the meatballs, cooking and flipping until golden brown, about 4 1/2 to 5 minutes per side.
8. Remove the meatballs after frying and put on a paper towel lined plate to absorb excess oil.
9 (If you want you can bake the meatballs on a lightly greased tray at 350 degrees-the taste is totally different than frying).
10 Add the meatballs to your tomato sauce to finish cooking.
11 Let simmer for at least 45-60 minutes.
12 Serve with the sauce.
