I've made spaghetti and meatballs before, usually with a jar of store bought marinara sauce and premade meatballs. It's been my go to quick and easy meal to make for one of those long days afterwork. So I figured I'd turn it up a notch and make my own meatballs and marinara sauce! I just want to preface now that you'll need a few hours to get the sauce just right and it needs to stew for a few hours. I didn't give any measurements for salt in the recipe below, so add it according to your own particular taste. I've also been known to over salt things, so I'm probably not the best judge on how much salt to use. My addiction to sodium is something I'm trying to reign in. But I also blame my faux pas with the salt to the fact that I don't really understand the difference between table salt, kosher salt and sea salt (mental note to self - must google the differences later). We have all 3 in the pantry, and to be honest with you, I love sea salt. I think it tastes the best, so I put it on just about everything!
With that said, my meatballs came out amazingly delicious!! They were juicy and flavorful. I can totally see this being a great party appetizer down the road. If making spaghetti and meatballs, I suggest starting with the marinara sauce first, that way you can have that cooking on the back burner as you make the meatballs.
Meatball recipe:
Ingredients
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 large sweet onion, diced
Sea salt
4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
Pinch crushed red pepper
1lb pound lean ground beef
1lb pound ground lamb (the real recipe called for ground veal, but I love lamb)
1lb pound ground pork
2 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmigiano
a large handful of finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup water
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat a large saute pan with EVOO over medium-high heat and add the onions. Season the onions generously with salt and cook until the onions are soft and aromatic, but have no color. Add the garlic and the
crushed red pepper and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool.
In a large bowl combine the meats, eggs, Parmigiano, parsley and bread crumbs. It works well to squish the mixture with your hands. Add the onion mixture and season generously with salt and squish some more. Add the water and do one final really good squish. Don't over process the meat too much or it will get tough. The mixture should be quite wet. Test the seasoning of the mix by making a mini-burger size patty and cooking it.The mixture should taste really good! If it doesn't it is probably missing salt. Add more.
Shape the meat into golf ball size. I made about 40 meatballs. Coat a large saute pan with EVOO and bring to a medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. If using right away, add them to your big pot of marinara sauce. If not using right away, they can be frozen for later use. Serve with pasta and sauce or just eat them straight out of the pot! YUMMY!
Marinara Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 pound diced pancetta
2 large yellow onions, diced
Sea salt
5 large garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
4 (28-ounce) cans Italian plum tomatoes
Pass the tomatoes through the food mill. Be sure to pass all of the pulp through the holes leaving only the stems and the seeds. Set tomato sauce aside.
Coat a large sauce pot with EVOO over medium heat and add the pancetta. Cook the pancetta for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions, season generously with salt and stir to coat well with olive oil. Cook the onions until they become very soft and aromatic but have no color. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes stirring frequently.
Add the tomatoes to the pan of pancetta and onions. Rinse out one of the empty tomato cans with water and add that water to the pot. Season with salt and TASTE IT!!!! Tomatoes take a lot of salt. Season with salt in baby steps and taste every step of the way. Cook the sauce for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and tasting frequently.
Two tips: if the sauce is a little too runny, add in some tomato paste. Also, if the tomatoes are too tart, add in a pureed carrot.
Use the sauce right away on pasta or for any other tomato sauce need. This sauce can also be cooled and stored in the refrigerator for a few days and freezes really well.
Since we have plenty of leftover meatballs and marinara sauce, I'm thinking it'll make a great lunch the next day - meatball sub!!!
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