Jumbo Brisket Meatballs in San Marzano Tomato Sauce

Name: Jumbo Brisket Meatballs in San Marzano Tomato Sauce
Prep time: 23 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2+1/2 pounds ground brisket; cooking spray; 2 cups unsalted matzo meal; 1/3 cup water; 2 large eggs; 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 4+1/4 teaspoons Pure Sea Salt; 1 teaspoon crushed smoked chili flakes, or you can use red pepper flakes.; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1 Tablespoon ground fennel seeds (optional). The flavor of the fennel is very characteristic. You can adjust to your taste if it’s too strong for you.; 1/2 cup (about 18 garlic cloves) sliced garlic; 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled, drained and crushed, San Marzano plum tomatoes; 1/4 cup fresh marjoram leaves; 5 (4 x 1 inch) orange peel strips; 1 Tablespoon kosher salt; 1 teaspoon crushed smoked chili flakes, or you can use red pepper flakes.; Fresh marjoram leaves

Published: Jan 17, 2020 · Updated: Feb 2, 2024 by Carlos Leo · 36 Comments

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5 from 14 reviews

This recipe of Jumbo Brisket Meatballs is inspired by Italian meatballs called polpette, and the traditional uncooked tomato sauce called “passata.” These brisket meatballs are so tender and so flavorful, and they get a quick simmer in San Marzano Tomato Sauce with wonderful aromatic flavor from smoked chili flakes, orange peel strips and marjoram leaves. This recipe has Italian and Passover influences. Perfect meal plan recipe to make for weeknight dinners.

Flavorful Jumbo Brisket Meatballs in fresh San Marzano Tomato Sauce. Spoonabilities.com — *Recipe post may have affiliate links; read our* *disclosure policy*. *Photographs ©Carlos Leo, Spoonabilities*

Hello my friends. It’s Carlos. I’m back from a long break writing here. It was a busy end of the year at my full-time job, plus I took a much needed vacation over the holidays. First, I want to wish you a wonderful new year with a lot of success, health, and happiness. I hope that all your dreams come true. I started the year with fantastic news from my job. I am nominated to be Sales Rep of the Year. This is my third time being nominated, and I won the same award back in 2006. Also this year, I am part of the President Top Ten. So I cannot ask for more.

Geoffrey and I have a tradition every New Year’s Eve of creating our goals before the new year starts. But we also review our accomplishments for the past year. I can tell you that we reached most of our personal and professional goals. I believe when you put your intentions on paper, things start to fall into place and happen when you follow your plans. I don’t look at my goals during the year or get stressed out about those goals. The key is to create intentions and focus on what is important to you.

Overhead photo with one bowl with three Jumbo Brisket Meatballs in San Marzano tomato sauce. Next to the bowl two small saucer one with sea salt and the second one with smoked chili pepper and in the right top corner a loaf of bread. Spoonabilities.com

For this week’s recipe, I’m bringing you Jumbo Brisket Meatballs in San Marzano Tomato Sauce. This recipe is our monthly collaboration with Flora Fine Foods, importers of high-quality Italian Food. For this extraordinarily amazing brisket meatball recipe, I selected their San Marzano D.O.P. Tomatoes. I love this product because those tomatoes have a thicker flesh with fewer seeds, and the taste is more concentrated, sweeter, and less acidic.

Blue bowl in the center with meatballs and in the background 4 cans of San Marzano D.O.P. Tomatoes and a glass bottle with olive oil from Flora Fine Foods. Spoonabilities.com

The inspiration for this San Marzano Tomato Sauce recipe comes from the Italian recipe called tomato passata. It’s an uncooked tomato sauce made from crushed and strained tomatoes. This sauce is a bit thick but pour-able with a light and fresh taste. Passata means “strained.” These jumbo meatballs are called polpette in Italy.

San Marzano Tomato Sauce is the easiest and quickest tomato sauce that you will ever make. There is almost no cooking time for this tomato sauce. You only need to cook it for less than 3 minutes.

Pasta blue bowl in a wooden table with three Jumbo Brisket Meatballs in San Marzano Tomato Sauce. Spoonabilities.com

How to make San Marzano Tomato Sauce or tomato passata

First, you need to thinly slice ½ cups of garlic, which is about 18 garlic cloves. If you have a mandolin, the work gets much easier, but I highly recommend to use protective gloves to protect your fingers tip. I use the Paderno World Cuisine Mandoline. Also, you need five orange peel strips. Now, heat the saucepan and cook the sliced garlic in olive oil on medium-high, stirring often until the garlic is soft but not brown - about one minute and thirty seconds. Make sure you don’t burn the garlic. If you need to reduce the heat, do it.

Ingredients for the San Marzano Tomato Sauce: sliced garlic, marjoram, smoked chili flakes, sea salt, San Marzano plum tomatoes, olive oil. Spoonabilities.com

You can add the can of whole San Marzano Tomatoes to the saucepan and get a potato masher and crush the tomatoes, but I prefer to add the tomatoes to a large container and crush them with my hands first. After you add the marjoram leaves, orange peel strips, salt, and crushed red pepper, bring the pot to a boil over medium-high, and then remove from heat. This is almost like raw tomato sauce.

San Marzano Tomato Sauce in a small saucepan. Spoonabilities.com

Selecting Brisket for these Jumbo Brisket Meatballs

For the meatballs, I select brisket for a rich meaty flavor. You will not be able to find ground brisket at the supermarket, but you can ask the butcher if they can do it for you. When I first was planning to make this recipe, I got the ground brisket at my local Whole Foods, but when I got home, I was not ready, and I forgot and left the uncooked meat in the refrigerator for almost five days. I’m very picky with raw and uncooked food in the fridge for more than 3-4 days, so I made the sad decision to throw the meat into the trash. It was unfortunate because I don’t like to waste food, and this was expensive meat. Then I had to buy more brisket. But this time I got it in a different supermarket and they doubled the price to grind the meat. So I decided to grind the meat myself. Read the recipe “Gourmet Dominican Chimichurri Hamburger,” where I teach how to grind your own meat.

Slab of meat and in the background ingredients for the meatballs. Spoonabilities.com

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Ingredients for the meatballs: Ground brisket, salt, oregano, marjoram leaves, matzo meal, an orange & eggs. Spoonabilities.com

Steps to make Jumbo Brisket Meatballs

#1. In a large mixing bowl, add ground brisket, matzo meal, water, eggs, olive oil, sea salt, ground fennel, black pepper, and crushed smoked chili flakes. Mix with your hands until combined, but do not overwork the mixture

Ingredients in the mixing bowl and two hands cracking a egg over the mixture. Spoonabilities.com

#2. Shape mixture into 16-19 large balls (about ⅓ cup each). Arrange meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I got 19 Jumbo Brisket Meatballs.

16 raw meatballs in the baking try before go to the oven. Spoonabilities.com

#3. Bake in a preheated oven until browned and a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of meatball registers 150°F; about 22 minutes.

16 cooked meatballs in the baking tray. Spoonabilities.com

#4. Transfer the Jumbo Brisket Meatballs to the San Marzano Tomato Sauce in the saucepan.

#5. Serve warm, garnished with marjoram leaves.

Close up of the brisket meatballs in the blue bowl. Spoonabilities.com

I serve the jumbo brisket meatballs with a loaf of crusty bread to dip into the yummy San Marzano tomato sauce. It is a fulfilling meal just like that, but if you wish, you can serve over mashed potatoes, pasta, or an accompaniment of salad. This is an excellent recipe to eat during Passover or any Jewish holiday where you usually eat brisket. This recipe also has matzo meal added instead of breadcrumbs.

Loaf of crusty bread in a cutting board. Spoonabilities.com

As I said before, this recipe is inspired by a recipe by Food & Wine called Brisket Meatballs in Tomato Passata, but I don’t make it the same way. Tomato Passata is a sauce made with tomatoes that have been strained to remove the seeds and the skin. I don’t do this step, and instead I add the San Marzano canned tomatoes with all the juices, and I crush them with my hands.

What to know about San Marzano D.O.P. Tomatoes

D.O.P. stands for the Italian phrase Denominazione d' Origine Protetta (roughly, "protected designation of origin"). San Marzano D.O.P. certification guarantees that a tomato is of the San Marzano variety and location. So, not all San Marzano tomatoes have this certification. This is very important because the certification confirms that the San Marzano tomato has been grown, harvested, and packed in the region of Campania in the Sarnese-Nocerino area in Italy.
The San Marzano tomato has compact and fleshy pulp, is not very watery, and has few seeds which makes it very suitable for quick cooking which allows you to preserve a better flavor in your tomato sauce.
The name comes from the city; this elongated tomato saw its birth in San Marzano Sul Sarno.
San Marzano D.O.P. has been grown in a particular volcanic ash soil that has a good tomato reputation.

Watch this video for more information about San Marzano D.O.P. Tomatoes and how they are packed in one kitchen:

What can I do with the leftover San Marzano Tomato Sauce?

Use it to braise meats, chicken, or any protein or vegetable for a delicious sauce
Make shakshuka or Eggs in Purgatory
Make marinara sauce adding more vegetables for a more complex flavor to use for pasta or meatballs
Add some spices to make a pizza sauce
Make a hearty vegetable soup
Poach a fish using the leftover San Marzano Tomato Sauce and add more aromatics along with capers and olives
Use it as a base to make chili
Use it to make Lasagna
Make Pasta all’Arrabbiata
Use to make a Ragu sauce

When I made this recipe, Geoffrey loved it so much that he didn’t want to share the leftovers with me. He tried to eat almost all of the Jumbo Brisket Meatballs in San Marzano Tomato Sauce himself. I hope you get to try this easy, delicious, and very flavorful dish made with a lot of love. If you plan to make it, please let us know in the comment section, or share your creation with photos here or in any of our social media channels tagging @Spoonabilities and using the hashtag #Nojarsleftbehind. Until next time,...

Wishing you Tasty Happenings,

Carlos Leo
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