Spaghetti and Meatballs →

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Every family has their own favorite tomato sauce for pasta. My family recipe came from my grandmother’s long time neighbor Mrs. Andreoli from Abruzzo, Italy and like many family recipes, it was never written down; my grandmother taught me to make it when I was young. Over the years, I’ve tinkered with it, trying recipes from Lydia Bastianich to Marcella Hazan and others to “perfect” what I remember from my childhood. This recipe includes chopped pancetta, which is used in Amatriciana style tomato sauce, but otherwise it is true to Mrs. Andreoli’s recipe. I prefer to use “spaghetti rigati” which has ridges that hold the sauce, but use any substantial pasta of your choice. This recipe takes some time and should be a labor of love. Left-over sauce and meatballs will keep in the fridge for a few days, or can be frozen for up to 3 months in the freezer. Buon appetito!

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2019 - Spaghetti and Meatballs

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2019 - Spaghetti and Meatballs

Serves 6-8

For the sauce:

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

  • 4 oz. thinly sliced chopped pancetta

  • 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

  • 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 good-sized onion (about 3/4 cup minced onion)

  • 3 Tbs. tomato paste

  • 7 cloves garlic, minced

  • 3 sprigs fresh basil

  • 2 28-oz. can peeled San Marzano tomatoes with juices, broken up and crushed

  • 1 cup dry red wine

  • Kosher salt

Preparation:

  1. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add pancetta and sauté until crisp and golden, about 4 minutes.

  2. Add pepper flakes and black pepper; stir for 10 seconds.

  3. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring often, until soft, about 8 minutes.

  4. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine with the onion and garlic; cook for a minute or two.

  5. Add tomatoes, basil, and wine; reduce heat to low, and cook for an hour, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and the flavors meld.

  6. Remove the sprigs of Basil

  7. Reserve a cup of sauce to dress the pasta after you drain it.

(Note: if your sauce is too acid, add a couple of teaspoons of sugar to taste. If you don’t want to add sugar, you can mince up a small carrot and ½ stalk of minced celery and add it while sauteing the onion and garlic.)

For the meatballs:

Yield: about 24 small meatballs

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup roughly torn day-old Italian or another hearty country-style white bread, crusts removed

  • 1 cup whole milk

  • 8 ounces ground beef

  • 8 ounces ground pork

  • 8 ounces ground veal (Alternatively, omit the veal and use 1 ½ lb. of mixed beef and pork)

  • 2 large eggs, beaten to blend

  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

  • 1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan, divided

  • 3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley, divided

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more

  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano (Alternatively, use 1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried/ground rosemary)

  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds

  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Preparation:

  1. Place bread in a medium bowl, add milk, and let rest until moistened, about 5 minutes. Squeeze bread with your hands to remove excess milk, discarding milk. Tear bread into smaller, pea-size pieces and return to the medium bowl.

  2. Combine beef, pork, veal, eggs, garlic, 1 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup parsley, 1 tsp. salt, oregano, pepper, fennel, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Using your hands, gently mix in bread until ingredients are evenly distributed (do not over mix or the meatballs will be tough).

  3. Fill a small bowl with cool water. Moisten your hands and roll meat mixture between palms into golf-ball-sized balls, occasionally moistening hands as needed.

  4. Working in batches, add 1-2 Tbs. olive oil to a skillet over medium heat and brown the meatballs adding more oil as necessary between batches. Add the browned meatballs to the simmering sauce as you brown them.

  5. After all the meatballs have been added to the sauce, add a cup of sauce to the skillet and deglaze it scraping up the caramelized pieces of meat left in the skillet; add to your pot of sauce and meatballs.

  6. Simmer meatballs in the sauce for at least 30 minutes or preferably an hour more.

Cook the Spaghetti and Serve:

  • Cook spaghetti (1 lb. box for 4 people) in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente.

  • Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid, and return pasta to pot over medium-low heat.

  • Spoon reserved 1- 1 1/2 cups sauce over pasta and toss to coat. Add pasta cooking liquid, 1/4 cup at a time, as needed to loosen sauce and coat pasta.

  • Divide pasta among plates and top with remaining sauce and meatballs.

  • Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and 1/4 cup chopped parsley or fresh basil.

*Note: you can make the sauce a day ahead and refrigerate overnight. Bring to a simmer while you assemble and brown the meatballs.

For a good primer on the differences between styles of Italian tomato sauces, I recommend Lidia’s Italian Table by Lidia Bastianich, William Morrow,and Company, 1998.