Veal and Mushroom Meatballs
Traditional veal meatballs in red sauce over rigatoni noodles

Veal and Mushroom Meatballs

Put an umami spin on a classic Italian recipe with these Veal and Mushroom Meatballs. This savory combo pairs perfectly with your favorite pasta, garlic bread, and of course, your favorite red wine. What is Umami, you ask? Umami or savory-ness is one of the five basic taste categories of food. Umami occurs naturally in many foods including meat, fish, vegetables, and dairy products.
These Veal and Mushroom Meatballs hit savory perfectly and are bound to disappear fast, so you better be at the beginning of the dinner line. Try making a sandwich with these meatballs using garlic bread for a heavenly bite after bite experience! Looking for a more basic meatball recipe, check out our easy oven baked veal meatballs!

Prep Time:
20 minutes

Cook Time:
1-1/2 hours

Total Time:
1 hour 50 minutes

Serves:
4-6

Ingredients

Tomato Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, mashed
  • 2 cups plum tomato, canned
  • 1/4 cup tomato purée
  • 3 basil leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • salt to taste
  • ground black pepper to taste

Meatball Mixture:

  • 10 ounces veal, ground
  • 10 ounces mushrooms, chopped fine
  • 3 ounces bread crumbs
  • 3 ounces milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Instructions

Tomato Sauce:

  1.  In a medium-sized saucepan, sauté the onions and garlic in oil over medium heat.

  2.  Add the plum tomato, tomato purée, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

  3. Remove and discard the bay leaf; transfer the mixture to a food processor and coarsely blend.

  4. Set aside and keep warm.

Meatballs:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.

  2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the veal, chopped mushrooms, bread crumbs, milk, eggs, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper and chopped parsley.

  3. Form the meat mixture into 1-1/2 ounce meatballs. Place the meatballs onto a sheet pan that has been lightly coated with oil.

  4. Place the sheet pan in the oven for 30 minutes or until the meatballs have browned and reached an internal temperature of 165°F.

  5. Add the cooked meatballs to the tomato sauce and braise them for 45-60 minutes. Serve with your favorite pasta.

Recipe Video

Nutritional Information Per Serving

277
Calories

17g
Protein

10g
Fat

3g
Saturated Fat

1356mg
Sodium

29g
Carbohydrates

102mg
Cholesterol

6g
Fiber