Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs

October 28, 2017

Servings: 4

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 30 min

Total: 50 min

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Mom's classic spaghetti and meatballs (with our own little twist!)

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• Sauce:
• 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 28 oz can San Marazano crushed tomatoes
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• Meatballs:
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Step 1 Start the sauce: In a dutch oven, saute the garlic and onion in olive oil over medium-low heat until golden.
• Step 2 Add tomatoes and paste, oregano, basil, pepper, bay leaf and sugar. Simmer for at least 30 minutes while you make the meatballs, stirring occasionally. Do not let the sauce boil.
• Step 3 In a large dish mix the ground meat with all of the dry ingredients up through the breadcrumbs. Add the wet ingredients next and mix until fully incorporated.
• Step 4 Begin shaping into meatballs. Size is personal preference, anywhere from about 1-2 inches in diameter (we like 2!)
• Step 5 Gently place the meatballs into the sauce, stirring carefully as you add. Let the sauce and meatballs simmer over low heat for another 30 minutes,
• Step 6 Serve over pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

My Mom’s spaghetti and meatballs are a legacy in our house, as they should be in any Italian household.  If I’m craving any dish from childhood it’s usually a tie between this recipe (or chicken on the bone).  This meal was always comforting to me in a way that no other pasta dish can ever fully be.  Clearly it then became one of the recipes I was dying to make when I ventured out on my own and the first one that I inscribed into my first recipe book:

As I made this dish more and more over the years, I began putting my own twists on it.  As you know, we love experimenting in the kitchen and Marc actually encouraged me to come up with our own sauce recipe.  Back in the day, my Mom modified her own sauce recipe from the one handed down from my grandmother, because my Dad hates chunks of tomato.  The base for her sauce has always been Hunts (a brand that will forever have a soft spot in my heart), but she uses tomato sauce and paste to create a sauce base that is perfectly smooth.  Unless I’m cooking this for my Dad (in which case, my Mom would probably take the reigns), the sauce in this recipe has become a new tradition for us and something I look forward to passing on to our own kids someday.  It has chunks of tomato (sorry Chef Padre) and fresh basil:

The meatballs on the other hand are a Mom classic and you betcha I plan on keeping ’em that way!

Everything in this recipe is made from scratch – sauce, pasta & meatballs – and I promise, all of those elements are really worth it!  When your house smells like an Italian kitchen on Sunday, you’ll be thanking us!