Most of us have a tough time saying no to the lure of a meatball. Well, here is a batch of meatballs ready for the test. These particular ones, a mixture of beef and sausage, are laid out in a pan, then smothered in crushed tomatoes and seasoned with grated Romano cheese. Then they're baked in a hot oven, which accomplishes two things. First, it saves the step of browning them on top of the stove. And second, the sauce is automatically seasoned with the savory meatball juices and zesty, salty Romano.
We substituted ground sirloin for the ground round in this recipe and added 1/8 teaspoon salt to the meat mixture and 1/8 teaspoon salt to the sauce. We recommend baking the meatballs in a 13- by 9-inch glass baking dish until they are just cooked through, 18 to 22 minutes.
