Homemade Marinara Sauce and Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Feel good about this comfort food!

Probably one of the easiest things you will ever cook!

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Place cut up tomato pieces on baking sheet. 
3. Place garlic and fresh basil on the tomatoes. If using dried basil, sprinkle over tomatoes. 
4. Drizzle EVOO over tomatoes. 
5. Bake for 15 minutes until tomatoes soften and juices extract.
6. Scoop tomatoes, basil, and garlic into food processor or blender. Make sure to get all the good stuff off the baking sheet, including the juices!
7. Puree the mixture to a nice sauce. 
8. Serve over pasta or with other accompaniment. (Pictured above with Trader Joe's Brown Rice and Quinoa Spaghetti.) This also freezes nicely. 

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
(Modified from: Baker by Nature)

All done.

Browning in the skillet.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Organic grass fed ground beef or Organic free range turkey
• 5 Tbsp Fresh Minced Organic Garlic
• 1 Organic Egg
• 1/2 cup Grated Romano Cheese
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 2 tsp Parsley
• Pinch of Sea Salt 
• Dash of Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs (or alternative crumbs)
• 4 oz Mozzarella Cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I used cut up string cheese once which worked well.)
• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Mix raw ground meat and the rest of the ingredients together except the mozzarella cheese and the EVOO.
3. Cut mozzarella into small pieces (about 1/2 inch cubes).
4. Form the meat mixture into the shape of balls. 
5. Press the cheese cube into the meatball.
6. Reform the meatball to cover the cheese. 
7. Once all meatballs are formed and cheese has been inserted, place in skillet with 2 Tbsp EVOO. Lightly brown all sides of meatball on medium heat. 
8. Transfer meatballs into lightly greased baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. 
9. Serve with marinara or other sauce of choice.