based.cooking/content/spaghetti-and-meatballs.md

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Spaghetti and Meatballs 2021-03-13
italian
pasta
beef
pork
cheesefare
closedgl
  • ⏲️Prep time: 20 min
  • 🍳 Cook time: 40 min
  • 🍽️Servings: 6

Ingredients

For the sauce

  • ½ chopped sweet yellow onion
  • 3 cloves chopped garlic
  • 1 cup finely chopped carrots
  • 1 cup chopped cremini brown mushrooms
  • 2 cans (28 oz.) Italian plum tomatoes
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
  • 3 tbsp. tomato paste
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan-Romano cheese blend
  • ¼ cup red wine (optional)

For the meatballs

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • ½ lb. fresh bulk Italian style pork sausage
  • 2 tbsp. finely chopped basil
  • 2 tbsp. finely chopped Italian parsley
  • ½ cup finely chopped cremini brown mushrooms
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan-Romano cheese blend
  • Red wine (optional)

For the pasta

  • 1 ½ lb. dry spaghetti

Directions

Prepare the sauce

  1. Heat olive oil in a 4 to 5 quart pot on medium-high heat.
  2. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes.
  3. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer or until fragrant.
  4. Add the carrots and mushrooms, and cook for 2 minutes.
  5. Add the tomato paste, stir to blend, and cook for a minute longer.
  6. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, and parsley.
  7. Mash and stir the tomatoes with a potato masher until the sauce starts to thicken, about 5 minutes over medium-high heat.
  8. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently while preparing meatballs, stirring occasionally.

Form the meatballs

  1. In a large bowl, mix by hand the beef, Italian sausage, basil, parsley, mushrooms, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, and 2 tablespoons of salt and pepper.
  • Do not overmix or the meatballs will be tough.
  1. Use small melon baller (or teaspoon) to form 1-inch round meatballs.
  2. Roll and compress into tight balls.

Cook the meatballs

  1. In a separate wide, shallow pan, heat olive oil on medium-high heat.
  2. Brown meatballs on all sides for about 2-3 minutes.
  • Depending on the pan size, you may need to brown two batches of the meatballs. Cook them in a single layer; do not crowd the pan by stacking them.
  • Do not overcook the meatballs; they will continue to cook in the sauce.
  1. Towards the end of browning the meatballs, add a little bit of red wine to deglaze the pan.

Finish and simmer the sauce

  1. Add the cheese and red wine to the sauce and stir it in. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to taste.
  2. Add meatballs and gently stir. Simmer the sauce and meatballs for 30-45 minutes while cooking the spaghetti, stirring occasionally.

Cook the spaghetti

  1. Cook the pasta and optionally add 1/3 cup of pasta water to the sauce.

Serve

  1. Place a thin layer of sauce on a plate. Add pasta, sauce and meatballs.