Meatballs & Salad

Awhile back I wrote a blog about Cafe Martorano in Vegas and how the food was very, what I've come to call, "South Philly Italian." The dish I enjoyed most at Cafe Martorano was the giant meatball served up on the same plate with a green salad.

What's so special about a meatball and salad? Besides the fact that it tasted delicious it was pure comfort food to me. It brought me back to a time and place that I haven't been to in awhile. (Sunday dinner at my grandma's in South Philly. It's tradition in our family to eat your salad after your pasta; served in the same dish with your meat.)

Since visiting Martorano's back in June I haven't been able to stop thinking about that special blend of tomato sauce (we call it gravy) and red wine vinegar. This weekend I decided to give into my craving. I whipped up some giant meatballs and served them along side a green salad as the main entree at a dinner party I hosted.

Since meatballs were going to be the main course I wanted something a little different then the beef, pork, and veal version I usually make. I borrowed a recipe from Mario Batali for Turkey Meatballs and added a few personal touches. I used pork sausage instead of turkey, extra slices of day old bread, (to make them more dense) and I melted thin slices of provolone cheese on top to enhance the flavors.



On the side I served a mix of iceberg and red leaf lettuce, chunks of cucumber, and heirloom tomatoes with an Italian red wine vinaigrette. To me this was 100% comfort food! I have no idea what my guests thought but judging from the empty plates I'd guess they enjoyed it.

The rest of the dinner consisted of Eggplant Involtini, Spaghetti with Green Olive Sauce and Haley's Infamous Blueberry Pie for dessert.