Excellent Spaghetti and Meatballs

(makes 6-8 servings)

First make the meatballs. Combine the beef, bread crumbs, eggs, parmigiano cheese, the 2 cloves minced garlic, parsley, 1/4 of a large white onion (approximately 1/4 cup worth), salt, and pepper. While you are rolling out the meatballs, tuck a small cube of mozzarella (fresh or smoked, either is nice) in the center. 1 lb of ground beef makes a dozen of a nice size.

On medium heat, place the 1/2 cup olive oil into your pan. I use my biggest frying pan. When the olive oil is hot, brown until all sides are crusty and dark brown. Don’t overcrowd the pan or the meatballs will steam rather than brown. They don’t need to be quite cooked all the way through, just browned nicely as they will finish cooking in the sauce later. Set the meatballs aside for now.

Place the other 3/4 of the chopped onion in to saute in the olive oil left over from frying the meatballs. When they begin to look translucent, add two to three garlic cloves and saute for another minute or two. Throw a dash of white wine in to deglaze the pan, although you can skip this step. Add the canned tomatoes (with juices) stir in the salt and pepper, and heat until sauce simmers. Lower the heat and cook for about a half hour to reduce slightly.

It’s at this time I begin boiling water for the noodles.

Place all the meatballs back in the sauce. Over low heat, this will cook the meatballs the rest of the way through. Add torn basil leaves, taste your sauce to see if you need more seasoning. Simmer for another 20 minutes or so.

When your pot of water reaches a rolling boil, add a small handful of salt to flavor the water. Almost as salty as the sea, this is a chance to flavor those noodles! Add the thin spaghetti. Cook for just 2 minutes, you want to finish the noodles in the sauce. (Finishing the pasta in the sauce allows the noodles to drink in a little tomato sauce, it makes a big difference!)

After 20 minutes of simmering, the meatballs come out of the sauce, and pasta goes in to finish cooking. Set the meatballs aside for a moment. Toss the partially cooked spaghetti in the sauce, and once they are well coated add the meatballs and you’re ready to go. A quick grating of parmigiano, a bit more basil, and voila! Serve with a nice green salad or crusty bread.