Mad About Meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs and I have kinda a weird thing going on.

You see, much as I do love the idea of spaghetti and meatballs (and who doesn’t, seriously?), the depth of my adoration for this seemingly simple dish sure hasn’t shield me from having my fair share of mediocre spaghetti and meatballs both in the kitchen and out.

So when I stumbled upon a recipe for spaghetti and meatballs in a Bon Appetit issue a while ago by Molly Wizenberg- who sadly no longer writes for the magazine (thank goodness for her blog and wonderfully oozing with warmth book!) -I knew immediately that this was the one recipe that might have a shot at ending my woeful spaghetti and meatballs spell.

Thankfully, true to my not so blind faith in Molly’s recipes, it was everything I had dreamed it would be.

Utterly soft, tasty meatballs oozing with cheese served with a crazily simple but delicious tomato sauce and spaghetti topped with heaps of grated Parmesan and chopped parsley, this was one version of spaghetti and meatballs I served to raves (and second helpings!) all across the table- and one I could certainly see myself making and eating over and over again.

This dish gave me as much emotional gratification as it did gastronomical satisfaction. And that honestly just made me so happy that I finally had a spaghetti and meatball dish come out of my kitchen that I could be proud of.

So spaghetti and meatballs, we might not have had a good thing before but we certainly now have one hell of a thing going.

Spaghetti and Meatballs [adapted from Bon Appetit's October 2010 issue]

Note: I didn’t change much from the recipe except stuff the meatballs with slices of cheese because more cheese can only be a good thing right? Also, I left the onions in the sauce and left the tomatoes as they were instead of blitzing them because I wanted some texture in my sauce. Other than that, I followed the recipe as written and it was absolutely perfect. And believe me, those meatballs are just to die for.

Ingredients
Meatballs
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
250g ground beef
250g ground pork
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
2 large eggs
1/2 a garlic bulb, peeled
3 slices of cheese, cut into 2-inch slices

Sauce
2 28-oz whole peeled tomatoes in juice, chopped
100g unsalted butter
2 onions, peeled and quartered
1/2 a garlic bulb, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp sea salt

1 packet of spaghetti
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

1. To make the sauce Combine the tomatoes with their juice, butter, onions, garlic, chili flakes and salt in a large pot. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season well with more sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat.
   
2. To make the meatballs Combine the breadcrumbs and milk in a small bowl. Let stand for about ten minutes.
3. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef and pork together. Add the Parmesan cheese, parsley, eggs and garlic. Squeeze the milk from the breadcrumbs, reserving the milk, and add the breadcrumbs to the mixture. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix until the ingredients are evenly combined. Chill the mixture for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour.
4. Moisten hands with the reserved milk, roll the meat balls with a slice of cheese in the middle into golf ball size balls and arrange them in a single layer on a baking tray.
5. Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
6. Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, stirring occasionally and drain.
7. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Add the spaghetti to the pot and toss to coat. Top the pasta with meatballs and sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve. Serves 6