Spaghetti and Meatballs

By cacelias

I finally found a delicious recipe for spaghetti and home made meatballs! These are very tasty! I froze the leftover (cooked) meatballs for later use. Just heat them up in the sauce when you want to serve again. The sauce can also be made without the meatballs (for Russ) and then it is a wonderful meal for the whole family to enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine, All-Time-Best Recipes 2015

Ingredients

• Sauce:
• 1-28oz can crushed tomatoes in juice (preferable San Marzano)
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
• olive oil for sautéing
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1 t Italian Seasoning or herbs of your choice
• 1 t sugar
• 1/2-1 cup water
• Meatballs:
• 1/4 lb ground veal
• 1/4 lb ground pork
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped finely
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil for sautéing
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 cup torn day-old Italian bread
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs, combined
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/8 cup finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 t finely chopped oregano
• 1 t lemon zest
• salt
• pepper

Details

Servings 24

Preparation

Step 1

For the sauce:
Cook onions in oil in pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, 1t salt, and 1/2 t pepper, 1t Italian Seasonings, and 1t sugar. Add desired amount of water. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 45 minutes - 1 hour.

For the meatballs:
Cook onions in extra-virgin olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.

Soak bread in milk on another bowl until soft, about 5 minutes. Drain bread in a colander and press with a paper towel to squeeze out excess milk, discarding milk.

Stir together the onion mixture, bread, eggs, Parmesan, parsley, oregano, lemon zest, 1 t salt, and 1/2 t pepper until combined. Add meats to bread mixture, gently mixing with your hands until just combined (do not over mix). Refrigerate until ready to use and firm up mixture.

Form mixture into 24-28 meatballs with a scoop. arranging on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat.

Heat oven to 500 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes until browned and cook all the way through.

Cook desired pasta and top with meatballs and sauce.

Freeze any unused cooked meatballs for later use!