Olive-Stuffed Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

This is one of the earliest recipes I ever came up with. It was published in my first cookbook, The Glorious Soups and Stews of Italy, published in 2006. I thought it was a rather clever take on classic meatballs back then, and I have to say, I still feel that way. I had been thinking about the famous olive Ascolane—deep fried meat-and-cheese-stuffed ol…