Guild Wars 2: Meatball Dinner

I can’t believe End of Dragons is out next week! Jeff and I have been spending some time playing through the most recent content to remember where the story left off. I’m not too sure which of my characters will be going through the new story first. It’ll either be my Necromancer or Guardian. Either way, I’m extremely excited to adventure around the Cantha maps. I’m looking forward to the fishing mechanics in the game. I haven’t been keeping up with all the events because a part of me wants to go in with as little information as possible. All I know is we will be able to fish and all games with fishing are good. Less than a week until I become a Guild Wars 2 fishing main.

Guild Wars 2 is the game that really convinced me to start my video game cooking adventure. It is easily the game I’ve cooked the most recipes for on this site. I adore the care and thought that the developers put into creating all the recipes in the game. It really got me thinking and breaking down the recipes in order to recreate them for everyone to enjoy.

This week, we are going to work on the Meatball Dinner. This is the recipe from the game that I typically use as a great example of how the developers broke everything down. They went into a lot of detail for each of the components needed to make the recipe.  I decided to use premade pasta to keep it a little easier and not overcomplicate the recipe. This allows us to focus on the marinara sauce and the meatballs themselves. One note with the meatballs; if you have a hard time finding lamb, feel free to swap it with ground beef.

Marinara Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 anchovies
10 garlic cloves, minced
3 shallots, minced
28 oz can whole tomatoes
28 oz can san marzano tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 tsp sugar
1 fresh basil stem
kosher salt
ground black pepper

Meatballs
1 lb ground lamb
1 egg
5 garlic cloves, minced
¾ cup panko
¼ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
olive oil

1 lb spaghetti, cooked and some water reserved

Heat a saucepan with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the anchovies and lightly mash into small pieces. Next, add the shallots and garlic. Cook until softened and slightly golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the whole and san marzano tomatoes and stir together well.

Add the oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and sugar. Stir in well while lightly mashing the whole tomatoes. Add the basil stem. Reduce the heat to low/ medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for about 30 minutes. Make sure to stir often and mash the tomatoes fully by the time it is done cooking. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking. If the sauce has thickened too much, add a bit of reserved pasta water to loosen it up.

In a bowl, combine the ground lamb, egg, garlic, panko, parmesan cheese, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix until it just comes together. Split the mixture into around 16 equal pieces. Take each portion and roll them up to form a ball.

Heat a large pan with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and brown each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Once the meatballs have browned, remove them from the pan and place them in a deep saucepan with the marinara sauce. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 25 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.

Take a portion of sauce and toss it with the cooked pasta. Plate some pasta and top with the meatballs and additional sauce. Serve with extra parmesan cheese.

Print Recipe

Meatball Dinner

Ingredients

Marinara Sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 anchovies
• 10 garlic cloves minced
• 3 shallots minced
• 28 oz can whole tomatoes
• 28 oz can san marzano tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 fresh basil stem
• kosher salt
• ground black pepper

Meatballs

• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1 egg
• 5 garlic cloves minced
• ¾ cup panko
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese shredded
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 1 lb spaghetti cooked and some water reserved

Instructions

• Heat a saucepan with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the anchovies and lightly mash into small pieces. Next, add the shallots and garlic. Cook until softened and slightly golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the whole and san marzano tomatoes and stir together well.
• Add the oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and sugar. Stir in well while lightly mashing the whole tomatoes. Add the basil stem. Reduce the heat to low/ medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for about 30 minutes. Make sure to stir often and mash the tomatoes fully by the time it is done cooking. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking. If the sauce has thickened too much, add a bit of reserved pasta water to loosen it up.
• In a bowl, combine the ground lamb, egg, garlic, panko, parmesan cheese, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix until it just comes together. Split the mixture into around 16 equal pieces. Take each portion and roll them up to form a ball.
• Heat a large pan with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and brown each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
• Once the meatballs have browned, remove them from the pan and place them in a deep saucepan with the marinara sauce. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 25 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.
• Take a portion of sauce and toss it with the cooked pasta. Plate some pasta and top with the meatballs and additional sauce. Serve with extra parmesan cheese.