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Serves: 5 - 6

Prep. Time:  30 mins  Total Time:  1 hr 30 mins

INGREDIENTS (meatballs)

4 slices bread - 2 packed cups
2 pounds ground beef
3 cloves garlic - minced
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley - finely chopped
¼ cup Pecorino Romano - grated , plus about 1 cup for serving
¼ cup currants
¼ cup pine nuts
1 teaspoons fine sea salt
¼ teaspoons white pepper
4 large eggs
½ cup dried bread crumbs

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

¾ cup olive oil
10 cloves garlic
¼ red pepper flakes
1 28 ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes
1 28 ounce can chopped tomatoes (Pomi brand)
1 28 ounce can strained tomatoes (Pomi brand)
2 teaspoons sea salt

INGREDIENTS (polenta)

3 ½ cups water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons garlic - minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 cup stone-ground polenta
1 cup milk
¼ cup goat cheese - crumbled

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For the sauce combine the olive oil and garlic in a large deep saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring or swirling occasionally, until the garlic is deeply colored-striations of deep brown running through golden cloves and fragrant (if the garlic starts to smell acrid or sharp or is taking on color quickly, pull the pan off the stove and reduce the heat)

2. While the garlic is getting golden, deal with the tomatoes: Pour them into a bowl and crush them with your hands. We like to pull out the firmer stem end from each of the tomatoes as we crush them and discard those along with the basil leaves that are packed into the can.

3. When the garlic is just about done, add the red pepper fakes to the oil and cook them for 30 seconds or a minute, to infuse their flavor and spice into the oil.

4. Dump in the tomatoes, add the salt, and stir well. Turn the heat up to medium, get the sauce simmering at a gentle pace, not aggressively, and simmer for 4 hours.
Stir it from time to time.

5. Check the sauce for salt at the end. The sauce can be cooked stored and covered, in the fridge for at least 4 days or frozen for up to a few months.

6. Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Put the fresh bread in a bowl, cover it with water, and let it soak for a minute or so. Pour off the water and wring one the bread, then crumble and tear it into tiny pieces.

7. Combine the bread with all the remaining ingredients except the tomato sauce in a medium mixing bowl, adding them in the order they are listed. Add the dried bread crumbs last to adjust for wetness: the mixture should be moist wet, not sloppy wet.

8. Shape the meat mixture into handball-sized meatballs and space them evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The meatballs will be firm but still juicy and gently yielding when they're cooked through. (At this point, you can cool the meatballs and hold them in the refrigerator for as long as a couple of days or freeze them for the future.)

9. Meanwhile, heat the tomato sauce in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate the meatballs comfortably.
Dump the meatballs into the pan of sauce and nudge the heat up ever so slightly. Simmer the meatballs for half an hour or so (this isn't one of those cases where longer is better) so they can soak up some sauce. Keep them there until
it's time to eat.

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