Spaghetti n Meatballs

What most Americans think all Italians eat on a regular basis. Spaghetti and meatballs. Truth be told, it just ain't true.

The Italian style of eating involves a course system, eating a pasta or starch dish with a sauce first, followed by a meat dish with a side of vegetables. Salad comes after all that, or sometimes as a side. My mother-in-law cringed when I told her we serve meatballs on top of our spaghetti. It actually made me laugh.

They DO make sauce with meatballs though, and it's wonderful. They just go about it a little differently. Here's her recipe with a few tweaks.

Needed:
A pound spaghetti (btw if you use thin spaghetti then only use 2/3 lb)

For Meatballs:
A pound ground beef
1/3 c Parmesan
1/3 c Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
An egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
Dash cayenne

For sauce:
24 oz tomato passato /purée
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 onion chopped
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
Dash cayenne or red pepper flakes
Olive oil

Start with the sauce. In a saucepan heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium hi heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until golden and soft. Add everything else except the red pepper/cayenne and simmer on med lo.
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While it simmers, go ahead and put a pot of water on to boil, and you can make up those meatballs. Combine all the ingredients, not working it too much. Btw, guesstimating is perfectly ok. I don't measure. I use a handful of Parmesan and a handful of breadcrumbs per pound of meat. Now splash a little milk on the meat. Makes it so so creamy good. Shape into balls (a little bigger than a golfball) and FLATTEN gently. Yes you heard it. Flatten. They're not round. Flatten to about 1/2" thick. In a skillet on medium hi, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and brown the meatballs. They don't need to cook through.

As they are done, just toss into the sauce and move to cover them up with that yummy tomato goodness. Taste the sauce btw for salt and acidity. Too acid, add sugar. Have some bread to warm? In the oven it should go now, at 275.

Cook the meatballs 10 minutes and at that point salt your pasta water (PLEASE salt the water and with about 1 tbsp per 2 quarts) and toss in the pasta. It'll cook 9 minutes for spaghetti an by then your meatballs will be done. At the same time add the cayenne to your sauce and stir in.

Timing here is perfect. When you bite that pasta (and yes, bite the pasta) it should be al dente -holding up to the tooth. Then turn off the sauce, dip a mug in the pasta to save some water, and dump the pasta in the colander then back in the pot. Don't forget to get the bread from the oven!

In Italy we would pull those meatballs out of the sauce and save for the 'secondo', or second course, but we are here and not there. Dump it all, sauce and meatballs, into the pasta pot and gently toss. Sprinkle with Parmesan and you're ready. It's a great thing.

The meatballs, by the way, are a great dish to serve even without sauce. Lower your skillet temp, add a cover and cook through. When done top with a little cheese and let melt in (I add the cheese while in the skillet and cover the skillet...it gets all melty and bubbly and just yummy). Serve them with something moist, like a creamed spinach ...see a future blog for that one. Even save for lunch boxes! So good. Enjoy!