My Spaghetti and Meatballs
Posted on August 4, 2009
The funniest thing about this post is the fact that when I was younger, my least favorite food was spaghetti. Hated it. With a passion. Later, I figured it out that I’m not a huge fan of spaghetti without meat. And please don’t put huge chunks of green pepper in the sauce. It doesn’t make me happy. But big hunks of meat? Yep, I’m game.
So, thanks to my friend Becky for telling me about America’s Test Kitchen and thank you Melaina for calling me and having me look up this recipe for you.
Cast of Characters:
Onion Mixture
1/4 cup olive oil
3 onions , chopped fine
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup water
4 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil leaf
Salt
1 – 2 teaspoons sugar , as needed
Meatballs
4 slices hearty white sandwich bread
3/4 cup milk
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage , casings removed
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 large eggs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck (80 percent lean)
Tip: This usually takes me about 2-2 1/2 hours to make from start to finish. Just an fyi.
Ok first, you’re going to want to take your onions (I use sweet yellow onions) and chop them up really fine. I use my food processor so I’m not crying all in my food, but do whatever works for you.
Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook your onions in a (large) dutch oven until they are golden, about 10-15 minutes.
Then take your 8 cloves of garlic and mince that up. Or, just use the jarred minced garlic. But…if you do, please don’t be like me and mistake the portion size. A 1/2 tsp of minced garlic= one clove. NOT a 1/2 Tbsp. 24 cloves of garlic is a lot of garlic. Just a tip.
Add the garlic, dried oregano and red pepper flakes to the onions.
Cook the onion mixture for another 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
Transfer half of onion mixture to large bowl and set aside.
On to the sauce. Add tomato paste to remaining onion mixture in pot and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add wine and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
Stir in water and tomatoes.
Simmer over low heat until sauce is no longer watery, about 60 minutes.
On to the meatballs! Tip: Start making these about a half hour into your sauce simmering session. Oh! And don’t forget your pasta. I always get to the end of making this sauce before I remember the spaghetti! Mommy brain…
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Grab that bowl of your reserved onion mixture.
Add the milk and bread to it.
I actually use wheat bread now, so, if you’d rather, you can do so yourself.
Mash the bread and milk in bowl with the onion mixture until smooth.
Yes. I use a pastry cutter. What? It works.
Add the Italian sausage (I use sweet Italian sausage with basil), cheese, eggs, parsley, garlic and salt, and mash to combine.
Once combined, add the beef (I use ground turkey- it tastes fantastic and its good for you!).
This is the part where, if you have any, you should take off your rings. I forget this part a lot. Or, I’ll leave them on the counter and lose them. But my mother in law got me this cute little candle holder a while ago and she told me to use it for my rings when I’m cooking. So, I do! Cute, huh? No more mushy or lost rings!
Anyhoo, back to the food. Knead the meat mixture with your hands until well combined.
Form mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs (I usually get about 30 meatballs).
Place them on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until well browned, about 20 minutes.
While those are baking, go back to your sauce. It should be done simmering now. Stir in the cheese and basil and adjust the seasonings with salt and sugar.
Let that simmer for the rest of the time your meatballs are in the oven.
Once they’re done, take out your meatballs and add them to the sauce. Let them simmer in there for another 15 minutes.
Serve over pasta and enjoy fall in love.
Now, of course you can tweak this to your taste. Take out the wine if you must, Amy. Add mushrooms, or (God forbid) green peppers if you’d like. But just be aware that this recipe is for a HUGE amount. The recipe says it serves 8, but I made this for my family camping trip and it served 9 adults, 6 kids and one teenage boy. Plus seconds. What I usually end up doing is making the whole batch, and then seperating meals for my family into containers and freezing them. I usually end up with about 8 meals. I guess it all depends on the family size and taste, really.
Anyway, enjoy! And let me know if you try this and what you think!
Baking in a Tutu
Posted on August 4, 2009
Promise me you didn’t click on this to see me baking in a tutu. If you did, I have something for you that is MUCH cuter.
Ava loves to bake with me. Cooking is ok, but baking- well that usually involves sugar and sweets and licking batter off the spoons. I can see her fascination.
But, it makes it even more fun if you bake in your tutu! Who knew?
She loves to pour everything into the bowl. I’ll even let her crack the eggs. She hasn’t yet mastered cracking open the eggs. Egg shells are a common ingredient in her cooking, but I’m sure she’ll get there eventually.
And, surprisingly (or not), this is her favorite part. She loves getting her hands dirty.
And yes, messes usually ensue. Some people think I’m crazy for letting her do it, but honestly, I think she just might be cleaner than me in the kitchen. And really, if you don’t make a mess while you’re cooking, how much fun are you really having?
Oh wait. I lied. THIS is her favorite part. Yea, mine too.
Now, we could just dig in to these delicious peanut butter oatmeal cookies, but we won’t. They have a much better future in store. Well…before they get in my belly that is.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “Wait…what’s this? What are you doing to those perfectly good, perfectly normal peanut butter oatmeal cookies?!” Oh, just wait.
Mmmhmmm. Oh yea. Oatmeal Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies. With Peanut Butter Mollasses Filling. Yum. I Wonder How Many More Words I Can Capitalize Into This Recipe Title?
Yep. And they taste just as divine as they look. You’ll find these and many other amazing recipes at an awesome blog called Rookie Cookie. Love this blog!!
Fantastic job Tutu Baking Princess!!
I.Cant.Wait.
Posted on August 1, 2009
Please hurry up and become available. Right now. Actually, yesterday would be good.