8 minutes ago, weinoo said:But, but, but...the fond, @rotuts - the fond!!
There's no reason to miss out on that with the meatballs in the oven. Simply remove them from the pan and put it back in the oven for 10 minutes to Brown a little. Deglaze with a little wine and voila, delicious fond.
Edited to add:
Looks like rotus beat me to it.