Lick-the-Plate Spaghetti and Meatballs

By Addie

Serve these meatballs in their well seasoned homemade tomato sauce over hot cooked spaghetti.

Ingredients

• Meatballs:
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 slices bread, crumbled
• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 clove garlic, smashed, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• ....................................................
• Sauce:
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 large can (28 to 36 ounces total) crushed Italian tomatoes
• 2 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste
• 16 ounces thin spaghetti
• Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Step 1

Make meatballs. In a medium bowl, beat eggs lightly; add milk and bread and let stand for about 5 minutes. Add ground beef, onion, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper; mix gently until well blended. Shape into about 24 meatballs, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place meatballs in a generously greased large shallow baking pan. Bake meatballs at 450° for 25 minutes.

In a Dutch oven, in hot oil over medium heat, sauté onion until tender and just begins to turn golden. Add remaining sauce ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt, if necessary. Add meatballs; cover and simmer 50 to 60 minutes longer, stirring from time to time.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain. Serve spaghetti topped with meatballs in sauce; sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
.................................

REVIEWS:

The best spaghetti and meatballs ever! My husband, who is not much of a spaghetti and meatballs lover, cleaned his plate!!! I used 1 can of paste, 2 cans of crushed tomates and half the quantity of salt in the recipe and it turned out absolutely fantastic!

Excellent Pasta dish! This is a great recipie! This was my first time making it and both myself and my boyfriend loved it. I added mushrooms to the sauce, just because of personal preferance. The meatballs turned out great and the overall flavour was fantastic. I will be making this again for sure!

Awesome!!! I am so glad that I did not listen to some of the reviews. This was the best spaghetti and meatballs I have ever eaten. My husband and kids all loved it. Everything came out perfect!

"It was my first time making meatballs and i had my family over for dinner.. They loved it so much!!! They came out perfect! My husband enjoyed it so much we had it again the next night. very simple to make"

I liked this recipe. Then I added a little white cooking wine and mushrooms and I loved it.

I would have to say this turned out pretty good, and I got 4 clean plates back after dinner (with 2 kids ages 7 and 9). I've never actually followed a recipe to make spaghetti before, but I tried to follow this one pretty closely and made a few changes based on what I had on hand. One, I used ground turkey instead of ground beef. Also, I had 1/2 a can of tomato paste in the fridge already, so just used 1-1/2 cans tomato paste. And finally had to use diced tomatoes instead of crushed. I really thought the meatballs were rather tasty. So, yes, I'll be making this again--but still with turkey meat!

Great Sauce now! I found this sauce recipe one night when I was in a pinch to come up with a sauce.(I did not make the meatballs.)I think the too acidic & too thick sauce came from the SECOND can of tomato paste! *When I started making the sauce, I knew two cans would be way too much so, I just used one. Also, I cut back to 1tsp. salt. I followed the rest of the recipe as posted and ended up with a wonderful, easy and quick to make sauce! It is a regular for Veal / Chicken Parmesan or any pasta! With just those two adjustments, it's a winner!

I wouldn't make this again. I don't know how the only other reviewer loved it. The meatballs should be browned in oil on a skillet. Baking them made them very soft, almost tasted uncooked. The sauce is way too thick! Gross! I had to add about 4 tablespoons more of sugar to get rid of the acid taste of the tomatoes. I also added about 1 1/2 cups of water to thin out the sauce. I added lots more seasoning and more salt. It still was pretty acid tasting and a complete waste of ingredients and money to buy them.

If you like a softer, juicier meatball, this is it.I just put them in the sauce afterwards.