Pasta with sauce and meatballs is one of the quintessential dishes on American tables. The simple but delicious quasi-Italian dish often tempts even the pickiest consumers. While reaching for a jar of premade sauce and frozen meatballs to serve your customers may be tempting, there’s a world of difference when you take the time to craft meatballs and red sauce from scratch. Let’s explore the advantages of scratch-cooking this favorite dish, healthy roasted red pepper sauce.
One of the most evident benefits of making fresh sauce and meatballs from scratch is the flavor explosion. Every bite is flavorful when you use fresh, high-quality ingredients like ripe Roma tomatoes, aromatic herbs, and fresh ground meat. Homemade red sauce develops a depth and richness that simply can’t be replicated by premade processed varieties, and hand-rolled meatballs infused with spices and herbs provide a satisfying contrast in texture and flavor.
Healthier Ingredients
Sadly, virtually every major pasta sauce brand is packed with excess sugar and salt. Likewise, prepared meatballs tend to have lots of salt and fillers. By making sauce and meatballs from scratch, you control the ingredients that go into your dish. Consumers care about what’s in their food. Making these recipes from scratch lets them know that you care about their food as well.
While most folks assume that a good red sauce must be prepared on a stovetop, we prepared this delicious sauce in a CVap® oven. Although the recipe is intended to feed eight to ten people, it can easily be scaled up to feed many more, like the meatball recipe. Try this out and see what you think. We think you’ll agree this would be a delicious, fresh addition to your menu.
Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Sauce
Yield 10-15 Servings
The Ingredients
- 2 pounds Roma Tomatoes
- 2 Red Bell Peppers
- ½ C Olive Oil
- 2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 10 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Tbls Kosher Salt
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
CVap Oven Settings
Retherm (RTV)/Cook and Hold (CHV)
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Vapor Temp: 200°F
- Air Temp: 350°F
Healthy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Process
- Cut tomatoes into halves and remove cores. Cut peppers into quarters and remove any seeds.
- Add olive oil, dried herbs, garlic, and salt & pepper to a bowl. Coat tomatoes and peppers in the mixture (I placed them in the bowl one by one and used my hands to coat them in the oil mixture).
- Place tomatoes and peppers on the baking sheet face up. Add garlic cloves in between the tomatoes and peppers. Drizzle any remaining oil from the bowl on top of the tomatoes and peppers.
- Once cooked, let the tomatoes and peppers cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Transfer the contents of the baking sheet into a food processor (you may need to do two batches) and blend until desired consistency is reached.
If needed, the prepared sauce can be poured into a hotel pan and placed in a CVap oven or holding cabinet and held hot until you’re ready to serve.
Yo Mama’s Meatballs
Yield: 8-10 Servings
The Ingredients
- 2 pounds Ground Beef
- 1 pound Ground Pork
- 1 ½ C Panko Breadcrumbs
- ½ C Milk
- 3 Whole Eggs
- 3 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 4 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 2 Tlbs Fresh Chopped Parsley
- 1 C Grated Parmesan
CVap Oven Settings
Retherm (RTV)/Cook and Hold (CHV)
- Cook Time: 15 minutes or until internal temperature is 160°F
- Vapor Temp: 170°F
- Air Temp: 350°F
Holding Program (CVap oven, holding cabinet or warming drawer)
- Holding Time: 2 Hours
- Vapor Temp: 150°F
- Air Temp: 160°F
Meatball Process
- Combine breadcrumbs and milk in a large mixing bowl. Once the milk has been absorbed, add the remaining ingredients. Mix well, but be careful not to overmix.
- Form meatballs into 1 ½ to 2 ounces each with a spoon or medium-sized cookie scoop. Spray sheet pan with cooking spray and line meatballs in evenly spaced rows.
- Cook for 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°F.
Once you’ve prepared this sauce and meatball recipes, we recommend serving them with high-quality pasta such as Buitoni or Rao’s homemade. But if you have the skill and experience to make pasta from scratch, by all means, do that.
