Neapolitan Meatballs with Red Wine Rosemary Sauce

This recipe comes from Mario Batali on The Chew -- it is a totally different style than the more traditional -- served it to my brother for his birthday --the flavors were awesome! I cooked a full pound of pasta for this.

• 3 Cups Day-Old bread (Cut into 1/4 Inch Cubes)
• 1 1/4 Pounds Ground Beef
• 3 Beaten Eggs
• 2 Cloves Garlic (Grated)
• 1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Italian Parsley
• 3/4 Cup Grated Pecorino Cheese
• 1/4 Cup Pine Nuts
• 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 Tablespoon Kosher Salt (More If Needed)
• 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sauce Ingredients

• 1/4 Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 Red Onions (Thinly Sliced)
• 6 Cloves Garlic (Thinly Sliced)
• 1 Tablespoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 Cup Dry Red Wine
• 1 Sprig of Fresh Rosemary
• 2 Cups Whole Peeled San Marzano Tomatoes (Crushed)

1. Soak your bread cubes in milk for two minutes in a shallow bowl. Then drain and squeeze to get out all the moisture. This bread is key to the meatballs. It helps prevent the meat from becoming too dry or too firm.
2. Add the breadcrumbs to the meat and press them down into it with your hands. This will release some of the leftover milk into the meat. Add the salt, eggs, pecorino, garlic, toasted pine nuts, pepper, and parsley. Use your hands to mix them together, but make sure not to overwork and become too smooth. You want to do this just until the egg disappears.
3. Form the mixture into 12 to 15 meatballs with an ice cream scooper - larger than golf balls but smaller than a tennis ball - I used a 3 T scooper.
4. Bring the oil in a large heavy bottomed skillet to a high heat until nearly smoking. Then brown the meatballs in batches, until golden brown on all sides. This should take about 10 minutes.
5. While that’s going, start the sauce. Add the olive oil to a large ovenproof skillet and bring to a high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until nicely caramelized, about 5 minutes. Then stir in the red pepper flakes, rosemary, tomatoes, and wine. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 more minutes.
6. Add the meatballs and cook them for 30 minutes on a simmer. Because of the eggs, you don’t want to overcook these, because then they’ll become too firm.
7. Top meatballs with pecorino cheese.