Pork (or not) meatballs + pan roasted tomatoes + ricotta + sourdough = dinner math that works

A weeknight dinner that’s warm, satisfying, and comes together fast.

I wanted something delicious. Because I was tired. You know the feeling. One of my kids had been sick and missed the whole last week of school. So there was the part where you're watching a little person feel crummy, which is its own special kind of awful—and then the added dilemma of Zach and I trying to juggle everything work and life-wise so one of us could be home. We even spent one morning in the ER thinking it might be appendicitis (it wasn’t, thankfully). By Friday, I was craving something comforting and savory that didn’t require much time or thought, but was still homemade.

We had a fresh loaf of sourdough that Zach baked earlier that day—practically begging to be turned into something cozy. (He’s going to share his sourdough recipe here soon because more than a few of you have asked.)

Zach is a prolific sourdough bread baker!

I opened the fridge, saw a pound of defrosted ground pork (I get this one at Whole Foods and keep it in the freezer) and half a pint of ricotta. I didn’t have a fully formed plan, but I started making my standard meatball recipe and noticed a half pint of cherry tomatoes on the counter. Bingo.

The whole thing came together in about 25 minutes, start to finish. Pork meatballs seared in a pan until golden brown, cherry tomatoes tossed right in so they blister and burst, soaking up all the savory, meaty unctuousness. The amount of flavor concentration that happens in the fifteen minutes those tomatoes cook is actually kind of wild

And by the way, if you don’t like or have pork? Use beef. Or chicken. Or turkey. Whatever ground meat is hanging out in your fridge or freezer, it’ll work. This is a choose-your-own-adventure kind of dinner, which is my favorite kind.

While everything’s doing its thing on the stove, you toast slices of sourdough (or whatever bread you have), and season some ricotta with salt, black pepper, and lemon zest. Add a little grated garlic if you're into that sort of thing—I am. It gives the whole thing a quiet punch without overpowering the creaminess.

To make it a real meal, I like to serve it with a quick salad. Arugula is always a favorite here, usually with a handful of shaved parmesan, a splash of balsamic, maybe a few torn leaves of radicchio if they’re around. Peppery, bitter, salty, sweet—the perfect contrast to the richness of the ricotta and meatballs. You can drizzle some balsamic glaze on there and I promise you wont’t be mad about it.

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My kids skip the salad and each get their veg of choice: raw peppers for one and broccoli with lemon and butter for the other.

If you want to eat this with your hands (highly recommend), you can slice the meatballs in half and place them cut side down on the toast. That way they stay put and don’t go rolling off the table and onto the floor... and right out the door. (Poor meatball.)