Slow Cooker Meatballs

1. Mix ground beef, breadcrumbs, parsley, onion, garlic, and egg in an appropriately-sized bowl.
2. Mix well and once the ingredients have blended thoroughly forming a thick mixture, shape the mixture into 16 meatballs.
3. Mix the spaghetti sauce with crushed tomatoes and tomato puree in a slow cooker.
4. Transfer the meatballs into the spaghetti sauce mixture. Make sure the balls don’t break.
5. Cover and cook to 6 to 8 hours. You can stir or check on it occasionally if you feel the need to do so.
6. Once cooked, top it with fresh coriander leaves or a garnish of your choice and serve/devour!

Trivia:

A Chinese recipe called ‘Four Joy Meatballs’ was introduced from Shandong cuisine which itself was introduced in the local cooking styles of Shandong. The origin of the dish dates from the Qin dynasty i.e from 221 B.C to 207 B.C.

The recipe book named Apicius which was produced in the ancient Roman age also included several meatball recipes. Initial dishes that were a part of the earliest known books called Arabic cookbooks include seasoned lamb shaped into meatballs which are the size of an orange coated with egg yolk and occasionally saffron.

This technique was then introduced to the West and was/is referred to as ‘gliding’. Although there are variations depending upon the region, kuffeh Tabrizi is a prominent type of dish with unusually large meatballs. A glided meatball dish called Poume d’oranges is also popular from the Middle Ages.

Meatballs today have a number of variants which differ with the use of different types of spices and meats used in making them. Several recipes of meatballs are found in Asia and Europe. From India to Spain and other countries, there is a wide range of meatballs in the ‘kofta’ family.