4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 47
Perhaps because the meatballs were slightly overcooked / a little dry inside, I liked the sauce better than the meatballs. This worked out fine, as there was lots of sauce--barely any liquid boiled off. This surprised me, as the recipe implied that most, if not all, the liquid would boil off, and that the sauce would be thick, not thin. Because the dish came out looking so different from what was intended, I'm tempted to try making it again. In this instance, this wasn't a four star dish, but I have high hopes the sauce will be thicker and the meatballs not overcooked next time.
As for the preparation, there are many things to do, but the steps aren't hard. The only confusion I ran into was that the recipe said that after adding the paste, to cook until browned. But everything's already brown!
Regarding leftovers, the leftover sauce wasn't as good, but it was still decent. Also, the refrigerated leftovers had a layer of congealed fat on top of the dish. (I don't recall what I did with it when I reheated the dish to eat.)
sauce before adding meatballs
meatballs before cooking
after adding meatballs (no flash)
meatballs and sauce after simmering (with flash).
(i.e., completed dish)