Comfort in a tomato sauce

Sometimes a long and arduous day at work can be soothed by a good glass of wine, sometimes by the presence of friends and family and sometimes by the cooking (and eating) of a homemade delicious comfort food. Towards the end of a month (and more so at the end of a quarter) things kick into high-stress mode at my office, deadlines seem to be 'yesterday', everyone seems a little frayed and generally things are a little edgy. My respite is coming home and cooking, even if I have to work after hours from home having a hot meal and taking the time to prepare it seems to center me. As the end of August approaches I have started feeling that tension again, it may be a thousand degrees outside here in Austin but spaghetti and steaming hot meatballs sounded so good to me I just couldn't resist!

Turkey Meatballs & Super Veggie Sauce

Meatballs
1/2 Lb Ground Turkey
1/2 Lb Lean Italian Sausage (pork)
2 Tbsp Freshly Chopped Flat Parsley
1 Clove Minced Garlic
1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Onion
1/4 Cup Romano Cheese
1/4 Cup Bread Crumbs


Sauce
3 Tsp Olive Oil
2 Cups Chopped Onion
1 Large Red Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 Large Yellow Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 Small Package Mushrooms, Sliced
1 Clove Minced Garlic
1/2 Cup Red Wine
1 28 oz can Whole Peeled Tomatoes, undrained, halved or quartered



1. Mix meatball ingredients together in a bowl. Wet your hand, then form mixture into appx 20 meatballs (2tbsp each), depending on size you may have a different amount.
2. Heat oven to 350 F, place meatballs in a large glass baking dish and bake until browned (appx 30-45 minutes).
3. Add oil to pan, then put onion, bell pepper, mushroom and garlic into the pan. Cook until tender, stirring often. Add wine, cook until almost completely dissolved.
4. Add tomatoes and meatballs; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened.
5. Pour sauce over individual servings of noodles, top with cheese.

Because the meatballs cook in the oven I had time to do some work on the side but still got to enjoy a delicious home cooked meal. Now, if I can just survive through the 31st things will be good!