Spaghetti and Meatballs (from Fine Cooking)
- Total Time: 67 Minutes
Description
Again…so many meatball recipes, I need to be able to differentiate at a glance – and these are different yet again! I found this in Fine Cooking and it’s by Daniel Holzman…a chef and co-owner of The Meatball Shop – he even has a cookbook! Enjoy!
Ingredients
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Sauce
1/2 c. olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 t. chopped fresh oregano
1 T. tomato paste
2 cans (28 oz/796 mL) diced tomatoes
1 t. kosher salt
1 bottle (600 mL) passata – for serving
Meatballs
1 T. olive oil
1 1/2 lbs. EACH ground pork AND lean ground beef
1 c. coarse fresh white breadcrumbs
1/2 c. ricotta AND 2 eggs
2 T. chopped fresh parsley AND 1 T. chopped fresh oregano
1/8 t. red pepper flakes AND 2 t. kosher salt
1 1/2 lbs. Barilla spaghetti
Remove the meatballs from the oven, drain any fat if necessary and spoon half of the sauce over top. Return the dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes until the center of a meatball is 165 degrees F. As the meatballs are baking, heat a large pot of salted water and cook the pasta according to package directions to al dente – drain the pasta, but reserve about 2 cups of the pasta water. Return the pasta to the pot, add in the whole bottle of passata, rinse the bottle with a bit of hot pasta water and add in that water. Add the remaining prepared sauce and then more pasta water if you think the mixture needs thinning out – you decide. Transfer the saucy spaghetti to a large serving bowl and top with the baked meatballs and all of their sauce. Serve it up and as you eat, you’ll be planning for when you can make this dish again!
Instructions
For the sauce – heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion, garlic and oregano. Cook and stir for 5-10 minutes until the onion has softened then add in the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly for a few minutes until the mixture has darkened. Add the canned tomatoes, all of their juices and the salt, then bring it all to a boil and simmer over low heat, stirring regularly for 45 minutes to an hour. Taste again for seasonings, add salt if needed and set the sauce aside until the meatballs are ready.
For the meatballs – preheat the oven to 450 and coat an 8 x 8 baking dish with olive oil. In a large bowl ,combine the meats through the salt and mix thoroughly to combine – you will need to use your hands at the end. Divide the meat into 16, evenly portioned balls (i used my kitchen scale) and then roll them with wet hands to make them round. Arrange the meatballs tightly into your prepared baking dish. Bake the meatballs for 12 minutes until the centers reach 90 degrees F (I used my instant-read thermometer, and it took exactly 12 minutes!), and if the sauce isn’t still hot, then gently reheat it.
- Category: Ground Beef, Ground Pork, Meatballs, Pasta
