Steal This Recipe® House-Made Tomato Sauce & Meatballs | Frasca Food & Wine, Boulder, CO

From Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson

The key ingredient for Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson's House-made Tomato Sauce & Meatballs recipe, served at Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado, is the tomatoes! San Marzano tomatoes are plum tomatoes named after the region of San Marzano near Naples, Italy. These firm and meaty tomatoes are traditionally known as the best choice for a great tasting tomato sauce.

Frasca Food and Wine takes its inspiration from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia sub-alpine region in northeast Italy. The restaurant hopes to reflect the international influences and culinary sensibilities of the Friulian people - rustic yet sophisticated, with creative blends of herbs, spices, and fruit, a profusion of fresh ingredients, balanced proportions of meat, seafood, and cheese, and a harmonious and uncomplicated relationship with wine.

The restaurant is named after a tradition of the region - the neighborhood Frasca. Historically found throughout Friuli, Frascas were friendly and informal gathering places, a destination for farmers, friends, and families to share a meal and a bottle of wine. Identified by a tree branch hanging over a doorway portal, they were a symbol of local farm cuisine, wine, and warm hospitality. As the harvest came to a close, the branch would wither and change colors to indicate the end of the season. The Frascas would then close their doors until the next harvest season.

About the chef: Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson's culinary career began at the Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1999 he moved to Paris to obtain his Certificate d'Aptitude Professionnelle at the prestigious Ecole Gregoire-Ferrandi. After completing his training, he apprenticed with Benoit Guichard at the famed Jamin, a Michelin two-star restaurant renowned for its classic French cuisine. Thereafter, he continued to hone his culinary skills working under owner and Chef Guy Guilloux at La Taupiniere in Pont Aven, Brittany.

He moved back to the United States in 2001 and to Boulder, Colorado in the fall of 2003 to join his business partner, sommelier Bobby Stuckey to pursue their vision of opening a neighborhood restaurant reminiscent of the Frascas they had visited in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy.

Frasca Food & Wine
1738 Pearl Street 
Boulder, Colorado 
303 442 6966

House-Made Tomato Sauce & Meatballs is served at Frasca Food and Wine for $23.00.
This recipe makes two restaurant servings.

Tomato Sauce Ingredients:
3 cups San Marzano tomatoes 
2 cloves slivered garlic 
1/4 cup small diced onions 
1/2 cup picked basil 
1/4 cup olive oil 
2 cups chicken stock 
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
Salt and pepper

Meatballs Ingredients: 
1 cup veal 
1/8 cup lamb 
1 Tbsp bacon 
1 tsp minced shallots 
1 tsp parsley 
1 egg 
1 Tbsp ricotta cheese 
1 Tbsp Montasio cheese 
2 Tbsp bread crumbs (no crusts) 
1 tsp kosher salt

Tomato Sauce Steal This Recipe® Step-by-Step Instructions:
In a large saucepan, sweat garlic and onions in oil until translucent. 
Add the tomatoes and the stock to the saucepan and bring to a simmer for five minutes. 
Add the basil and remove from heat. 
Blend until smooth in a food processor. 
Salt and pepper to taste.

Meatballs Steal This Recipe® Step-by-Step Instructions:
Grind or mix all ingredients together. 
Form the mixture into golf ball-shaped balls.
Poach in chicken stock at 155 degrees fahrenheit for 25 minutes.

Plating Steal This Recipe® Step-by-Step Instructions: 
Cook your favorite pasta in boiling salted water. 
Add meatballs to tomato sauce and stir in pasta when cooked. 
Plate in large bowls and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.