Meatballs and Sausages with Peas Recipe

It's Jim's birthday tomorrow and I'm making him his favorite- Meatballs and Sausages. He doesn't really care for the pasta as much as the meat- I make up for it since I'd rather just eat the pasta- that's why we get along so well :).

One secret ingredient is wine- which you sear the sausages in. It makes them very juicy and flavorful. I also use the meatloaf meat mix at Stop & Shop of ground beef, veal, and pork, although you can make it yourself. The mix of meats makes a much tastier meatball then just plain old ground beef. Finally, make sure you add a package of dry beef bouillon to your meatball mix, it makes them taste a bit heartier.

I use my trusty Caphalon 8.5 quart dutch oven to cook this on the stove because it is flat and wide so the sauce and meat cooks more evenly. NOTHING EVER BURNS IN THIS POT. It is the best

The sauce can get a little runny, so don't over do the water you add and best to serve this over rice (vs pasta) so that the rice sops up all the sauce.

This is a big recipe because Jim will eat them all week- feel free to cut in half.
2 packages of Perri Sweet Italian Sausages ( 10 )
Meatballs
3 to 4 slices of white bread, preferably Italian, crust removed
milk
2 lbs of ground beef/pork/veal meatloaf mix -
2 Large eggs
1 package of beef bouillon dry - low sodium
1 TBSP of dried parsley
2 tsp of dried basil
1 tsp of garlic powder.
Soak break in milk until absorb. With hands, break up into small pieces. Combine meat, eggs, and all the spices with the bread and milk. mix with hands until well mixed.
Form into 2 inch meatballs ( about 8 per pound). they may be a bit bigger than you expect, however, some of the meat will fall off in the sauce ( making your sauce meatier and richer).
Put in fridge until needed.

Sauce
2 large cans of Pastene Kitchen Ready ground tomatoes ( no salt added)
1 can of Hunts Tomato Paste ( no salt added)
1 cup of your favorite red wine ( so you can drink the rest of the bottle)
1 medium sweet onion chopped
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
2 small or one large bay leaf
4 whole cloves ( not garlic ! the kind you put on hams at Easter)
salt and pepper to taste

1 Bag of frozen peas, thawed.

To start sauce-
In large pan or dutch oven, place sausages on bottom in single layer. Peirce with fork 3 to 4 times. turn over , Peirce again.
Pour wine on sausages. Turn stove low to medium heat and brown sausages, all sides.
Add onion and cook for 2 minutes.
Add ground tomatoes and paste.
Fill one ground tomatoes can halfway full with water and add to sauce.
Add spices. Stir.
Cover and cook for about 1/2 hour on low heat, so sauce simmers, but does not burn.
After 1/2 hour, carefully add meatballs and push down to make sure they are covered with sauce. Cook for 1/2 hour
Add frozen peas and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes, until sauce is done and meatballs are cooked through.

Serve over rice or pasta