Spaghetti and Meatballs - An Italian-American Classic

Here is the recipe from Peg as promised. 

Spaghetti and meatballs is considered a classic Italian dish by many Americans. However the meatballs (polpette) we ate in our Italian family never included spaghetti or any kind of pasta, and certainly never any tomato sauce. In fact Italian Americans at the turn of the century were not serving meatballs with their spaghetti. But the American hankering for meat required Italian restaurants to accommodate that craving—thus was born spaghetti and meatballs, a creation of east coast Italian Americans.

The first time I ever ate spaghetti and meatballs was at the home of my future in-laws when I was in my twenties. It was a favorite meal in my husband’s family, but sadly when his mother passed away her meatball recipe was lost with her. I have never had a great desire to make the dish, but since my husband had such fond memories of it I decided to give it a try. I looked at several meatball recipes and adapted them to include ingredients I had on hand, and thought would work. I had some grass fed ground beef and pork from my local farmers market so I was off to a good start. Happily it was a success so I will share it.

Italian American Meatballs

½ onion finely diced

3 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

1 lb lean ground beef

1 lb ground pork

¾ cup fresh whole wheat or white bread crumbs

1/3 cup dry bread crumbs

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

¼ cup grated Romano cheese

¼ tsp nutmeg

2 tsp kosher or sea salt

½ tsp black pepper (can use red if you want spicier)

1 large egg, beaten

¾ cup water

Sauté the onion in about 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat until golden; add the garlic and herbs and sauté another minute or two; cool. Combine with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix gently with a fork until well mixed but loose. Use your hands to lightly form the mixture into about 24 golf ball sized meatballs—don’t over work the mixture or the meatballs will be tough. Pour enough oil (I used a combination of olive and grapeseed) to cover the bottom of a large non stick skillet. Heat the oil over medium heat until hot then brown the meatballs on all sides in batches if necessary, lowering the heat as needed, and drain on paper towels. They will finish cooking in the sauce. Retain the pan drippings for the sauce.

Tomato Sauce 

I had some frozen homemade tomato sauce, but you can use any good quality tomato or marinara sauce as follows:

1 chopped onion

3 large cloves minced garlic

¾ cup red wine

4 cups tomato sauce (or you can puree whole canned tomatoes in a processor)

1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the onion in the pan drippings until tender and translucent, add garlic and sauté 2 more minutes; add the wine and cook over medium high to deglaze the pan until most of it has evaporated. Add the tomato sauce, herbs and season to taste. Cover and simmer five or ten minutes to heat thoroughly, then add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Serve with cooked pasta of your choice.

Note: You can freeze some of the meatballs prior to cooking in the sauce if all 24 are not needed. If you do all 24 you might make another ½ recipe of sauce if you like more sauce with your pasta.