SK week 14 | Meatballs and Spaghetti

I have a decent meatball recipe, but I wanted to try something different, so here we are. :) (And you'll notice on her post that she links to a more recent meatball recipe that's even better--I didn't see that in time, and I had already gotten ingredients for this one. Maybe I'll try that newer one someday).

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:

(for the meatballs....)
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground veal
1 1/4 cups fresh white breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 egg, beaten
vegetable oil
olive oil

(for the sauce....)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 teaspoons minced garlic
pinch red pepper flakes
1 cup red wine
2 14-ounce cans pureed tomatoes
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Get all your meatball ingredients into a big bowl (minus the vegetable oil and olive oil)

Two notes:
The recipe calls for an extra-large egg, and I only had large. Then I cracked my one egg into a bowl and behold, it had two yolks. Kismet.
She adds 3/4 cup warm water to the meatball mixture, but she only listed it in the directions and not in the ingredients list, so I accidentally skipped it. You do whatever you want. I liked the consistency without the water just fine.

Mix it all up really well. I think using your hands is really the only way to do this well.

Form the mixture into meatballs. I got 30 roughly golfball-size meatballs.

Coat a pan with vegetable and olive oil and heat it up. Carefully place meatballs in the oil (don't crowd your pan--I did this in two batches).

Flip them once they look like this, and continue to cook on all sides for about 10 minutes total.

She has you make the sauce in the same pan as the meatballs, but I realized I was on more of a time crunch than I intended, so I started the sauce in a different pan while the meatballs were cooking. Coat pan in olive oil and start sautéing the onion.

Remove your meatballs to drain and get started on the next batch.

Once your onion is starting to get translucent, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for another minute.

Note: This is where you would add the wine and deglaze the pan. I decided to skip it altogether because I don't love wine and it would have been a waste of a bottle. But have at it if that's your jam.

Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Throw in the parsley, salt, and pepper, and stir. Basil would be delightful too. I might do that next time.

Bring it to a simmer and add the meatballs to the sauce, nestling them right in there.

Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes. While that's cooking, make your spaghetti!

Plate it up and sprinkle with parmesan cheese because cheese makes everything better. :)

Final verdict: So good. I really loved it all. The sauce was a little basic, but the meatballs were so delicious, so it didn't matter. Definitely a great go-to meatball recipe if you need one!

Have a great weekend! :)