Recipe: Melissa Reitz’s Meatballs With Fregola Sarda and Spiced Tomato Sauce (2024)

Meatballs with Fregola Sarda and Spiced Tomato Sauce

Bar Agricole's Melissa Reitz turns to North Africa for inspiration for this twist on spaghetti and meatballs. She recommends toasting and grinding your own spices for the best flavor.

Serves 6

Meatballs:

½ cup chickpea flour

1 pound ground pork

½ pound lean ground beef

½ small yellow onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, pounded to a paste

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ bunch fresh dill, finely chopped

½ bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

Spiced tomato sauce:

2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds

1 tablespoon whole caraway seeds

1 ½ teaspoons whole black peppercorns

1 whole clove

¼ cup olive oil

3 small yellow onions, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

3 bay leaves

2 dried New Mexico chiles, stemmed and ground in a spice grinder

1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed by hand, juice reserved separately

1 piece fresh ginger, about 2 inches by 1 inch, peeled and finely chopped

1 piece fresh turmeric, about 2 inches by ½ inch, peeled and finely chopped

1 ½ cups water

1 cup winter squash, cut into ½-inch pieces

To finish

8 ounces fregola sarda

2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or equivalent of cooked dried chickpeas)

Zest of a half-orange, removed with a vegetable peeler and finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped dill

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

To make the meatballs: Put the chickpea flour in a small frying pan and toast over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the flour is golden brown and smells nutty. Remove from heat and let cool. In a large bowl, combine the pork, beef, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, dill and parsley. Add the cooled flour and mix gently but thoroughly to combine. Form into 2-inch meatballs.

Reitz uses toasted chickpea flour as a binder for her meatballs instead of the more customary breadcrumbs. Not only does this mean they are gluten-free, it also gives the meatball a more delicate texture and a nutty flavor. She also refrains from adding eggs, a common meatball ingredient, but one that she thinks can give meatballs a "weird, firm bouncy quality."

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the meatballs and cook, turning as needed, until browned on all sides (they will still be slightly raw within). Set aside.

To make the sauce: In a small frying pan (you can use the same one that you toasted the flour in) combine the coriander and caraway seeds, the peppercorns and the clove. Toast over medium heat until fragrant, shaking the pan gently so the spices don't burn. Transfer to a spice grinder and grind to a powder.

In a large heavy saucepan or pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced onions and garlic and cook, stirring until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add the ground spice mixture and the salt and continue cooking until the onions are an even brown all over, about 5 minutes more. Add the bay leaves and ground chiles, followed by the tomato pulp, ginger and turmeric. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until some of the liquid has cooked out of the tomatoes and the mixture is beginning to stick to the pan, 5 minutes longer.

"By first browning the onions and garlic, then adding the toasted spices, and finally cooking the tomatoes, turmeric and ginger, you're adding layers of flavor to the sauce," Reitz says. "It doesn't need to simmer as long because you've already developed the base before adding liquid."

Pour in the reserved tomato juice and use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the water and the cubed squash, bring to a boil, then reduce until the liquid is simmering. Simmer until the sauce is slightly reduced and the squash is cooked, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with additional salt. Add the browned meatballs to the simmering sauce and cook for 10 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through.

To finish: While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Add the fregola sarda and cook according to the package instructions. Two minutes before the fregola is finished cooking, add the chickpeas to the boiling water. Drain the fregola and chickpeas and transfer to a platter; stir in the orange zest and chopped herbs. Spoon the meatballs and sauce over the fregola and serve immediately.