Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs

To be honest, this took a while, but it was so worth it. I woke up yesterday and I was starving! And after having some Captain Crunch, I thought "Dang, I would love spaghetti and meatballs". 

So, I took a few hours in the morning to make this. 

I started with the bread (See post on Garlic, Green Onion, and Cheddar cheese bread). With the bread doing its first rise, I started on the sauce, which is a simple, straightforward spaghetti sauce. With that in the pot simmering, I assembled meatballs. When they came out of the broiler, I put some in the sauce and put the rest aside in the fridge for another day. I let the sauce and meatballs cook for an hour or two, and while I was waiting, I finished the bread. I turned off the sauce when it was done cooking and let it sit until I was ready for dinner. Then I made the pasta, re-heated the sauce with meatballs, cut a hunk of bread, poured a little red wine, and had a great little dinner!

The sauce and meatballs come mainly from Jessica Gavin (with a few additions) and the pasta recipe is straight from a Bon Appetit post. 

Ingredients:

Tomato Sauce (makes enough for two servings)

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil

• ¼ cup yellow onions, minced

• 1-2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 3 ounces tomato paste

• 28 oz can crushed canned tomatoes, Cento or San Marzano

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

• ¼ red pepper flakes

Meatballs (makes about 16 fairly large meatballs, some for the sauce, and some reserved for later)

• 1 pound ground beef, 80% to 90% lean meat

• 1 pound ground pork

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup breadcrumbs, plain or Italian-style

• ½ cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus more for garnish

• ½ cup yellow onion, finely minced

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• ½ red pepper flakes

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, which you can choose to omit if using Italian-style breadcrumbs

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• ¼ cup sliced basil, for garnish

Pasta (makes about one pound)

• 3 large eggs, beaten to blend

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Tomato Sauce

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent; about 3 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Simmer covered, with lid slightly ajar to prevent splattering for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meatballs

1. Set the oven rack to the lower-middle position and set it to broil. Line a large baking sheet with foil and lightly grease it with olive oil. Set it aside.

2. In a large bowl, add the ground beef and pork, eggs, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, minced onion, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and minced garlic. Use your hands to mix thoroughly until combined.

3. Measure and roll the ground beef mixture into ⅓ cup (3 ounces) rounds, about the size of an egg. Evenly space the pieces on the baking sheet, there should be about 14 to 16 meatballs.

4. Broil the meatballs until the surface is browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes to lightly brown the other side.

5. Transfer some of the meatballs to the tomato sauce. Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar, and simmer on low heat for at least 1 ½ hours, checking and stirring every 20 minutes, or as needed. The meatballs should be fork-tender when sliced. Any unused meatballs can be stored in the fridge or freezer. 

6. At the end of cooking, adjust the consistency of the sauce with water if needed, about 1 tablespoon at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

7. Serve meatballs with spaghetti topped with sauce, sliced basil, and Parmesan cheese.

Pasta

1. Mix eggs, flour, oil, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer or medium-sized bowl (if not using a stand mixer) with your hands until a shaggy dough forms. 

2. Knead with a dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If kneading by hand, the same time applies - knead the dough for about 10 minutes. 

3. Cover the dough with a cloth and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

4. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut into quarters. 

5. Take one quarter and press into a flat rectangle. Roll out the dough to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Then run the dough through a pasta machine at the highest setting twice. 

6. Adjust the pasta machine to the next lower setting and run the pasta sheet through the machine twice. 

7. Adjust the pasta machine to a lower setting (you choose how thin you want the pasta) and run it through the machine at least once. 

8. When you are at your desired thickness (I was on the second thinnest setting), run the pasta through the spaghetti cutter, and boom! You are ready!

9. Repeat with the remaining pasta. 

10. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil

11. Add pasta to the boiling water

12. After 3 minutes, remove and drain the pasta and plate it. 

13. Top with sauce, meatballs, garnish, and grated Parmesan cheese

14. Enjoy!