Grade: A+
Time it takes: 3-5 hours (30 minutes prep, 2-4 hours cooking)
Yield: Serves 6
Source: Annie's Eats - food blog (recipe)
I love pasta, and I really love spaghetti with a meat sauce. But, I've never made spaghetti and meatballs. I usually boil some noodles, heat up a jar of store bought pasta sauce add some ground beef and call it a day. I normally don't plan pasta as a meal for a particular day because Chris isn't the biggest fan of pasta, so it ends up being something I make for myself when I want to eat right away and Chris has something I'm not interested in. Thus store bought pasta sauce. Obviously I didn't know what I was missing - ohmygosh this was incredibly tasty and well worth the wait!
Chris and I brought it over to a friend's house for dinner followed by house sprucing. It seemed to be a hit. Everybody liked how tender the meatballs were while still being firm enough to not fall apart. I really liked cooking them in the sauce on the stove, instead of in the oven - the one time I made meatballs I made them for meatball subs and in the oven, and they were okay. These meatballs, however, are not okay...they are delicious! Chris and our friend Atty, both not big fans of red sauce, thought it tasted pretty dang good.
Click below to expand for the recipe!
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (28 oz) can tomato puree - mine was 29 oz =O
- 1 (28 oz) can tomato sauce - I used a jar of Prego traditional
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup of water - use to get all the tomato-y goodness out of each of the cans, and thin the sauce a bit
Ingredients - for the meatballs:
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese - I used parmesan
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 lb ground beef
Ingredients - to serve with:
- freshly cooked spaghetti - I used angel hair
- shredded or grated parmesan cheese to top
Directions:
For the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the tomato puree, tomato sauce, parsley, basil, oregano, salt and sugar. Rinse the cans of tomato puree and tomato sauce out with about 1/4 cup water each and add to the pot - no need to waste any! You can add more water if you want your sauce thinner. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for at least 2 hours. I made the sauce first and let it simmer the rest of the afternoon (about 4 hours in total) while I made and prepped the rest of the meal - garlic knots and white chocolate mousse (recipes to follow).
For the meatballs: In a mixing bowl combine 1/4 cup of bread crumbs with the milk and let them soak for 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly - I used my kitchen aid mixer with the dough hook attachment to do the work for me. Form the mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Add the meatballs to the simmering sauce, I kicked the heat up a smidge, aiming for about an hour before you are ready to serve the meal. Cover and let simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 45 minutes to an hour.
Plate your cooked pasta and top with delicious homemade red sauce and meatballs. Garnish with parmesan if desired. Gather your family around the table and enjoy!