Most meatballs in tomato sauce rely on canned tomatoes for the kind of heady, garlicky recipe that’s typically spooned over spaghetti. But this recipe is made from briefly cooked fresh tomatoes for something lighter and brighter, seasoned with ginger, cilantro, lime juice and a dusting of cumin. It’s a perfect place to use up those overripe summer tomatoes, and it works well with just-ripe tomatoes, too. Feel free to use any kind of ground meat here: pork, beef, turkey, chicken, lamb or vegan meat. Then, serve it with crusty bread or rice to catch all of the zippy, fragrant sauce.

Gingery Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons finely grated or minced fresh ginger
• 3 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin, more for serving
• 1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt, more as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 pound ground pork (or turkey, chicken, beef, lamb or vegan meat)
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (or use plain)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, more for serving
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups diced fresh ripe or overripe tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 lime, halved

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon ginger, the garlic, cumin, salt and coriander. Add pork, panko and cilantro. Using your hands, gently mix everything together, making sure not to overwork the mixture. (Otherwise, the meatballs get tough.) Form into 1 1/4-inch balls.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high, then add the oil and let it heat up until it thins out. Add meatballs in one layer. Cook, turning and shaking the pan, until meatballs are browned all over, 5 to 7 minutes.

Move meatballs to one side of the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon ginger to the empty side of the pan and sauté for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, fish sauce and a pinch of salt to the empty side of the pan. When tomatoes are simmering, cover the pan, lower the heat to medium, and let cook until the meatballs are no longer pink at the center, about 5 to 8 minutes longer.

Uncover the pan. Mix the scallions into the sauce. Squeeze lime juice all over everything, then stir together. Taste, and add salt and lime juice as needed. Serve the meatballs sprinkled with more cumin and topped with cilantro.
Total time: 30 minutes, serves 4.

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