Spaghetti & Meatballs

For the meatballs:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cover a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and place your baking rack on top. Set to the side.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the meatball ingredients by hand. Once well mixed, begin rolling up the meat to 1 1/2″ to 2″ meatballs. As you roll the meatballs, place them close together on the baking rack. Once done, place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until browned on the outside.

Remove from the oven. Place the number of meatballs you need in the sauce, which should be simmering away on the stove right now. (Instructions below). Allow the remaining meatballs to cool and then place them in some freezer bags and freeze for another meal. I usually break my packages down to about 10 meatballs per package and freeze them.

For the tomato sauce:

In a blender, add one of the cans of crushed tomatoes with the diced tomatoes and their juice. Add in the garlic, parmesan cheese, hot sauce (if using), olive oil, parsley, basil and black pepper to taste. Mix until well blended and smooth.

Pour the pureed mixture into a large pot. If you have a Le Creuset or a similar type of pot, this is excellent for this sauce. Any heavy-bottomed pot will work well, but you definitely want a pot with some weight to it so you don’t burn the sauce on the bottom. After you add the pureed mixture, add the second can of crushed tomatoes and the tomato paste.

Turn the stove to medium heat and bring to a slow boil. Once this is achieved, turn it down to simmer and cover.

When the meatballs are done, add as many as you need to the pot and stir well. Cover and allow to simmer away, stirring occasionally for an hour. Make sure to keep the heat on simmer and stir often enough to prevent scorching the bottom of the sauce. After an hour, remove from the heat and set aside while you prepare your spaghetti.

I use 1 lb. of thin spaghetti, cooked to al dente in well-salted water. Combine the sauce, spaghetti and meatballs, adding extra grated parmesan to the top.