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.
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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.
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