SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS

I KNOW this sound trite, and I'm sure everyone has their "own" way of making this very American Italian dish (I've never seen this dish offered in any restaurant, trattoria or home table in Italy; besides, meat is never eaten with spaghetti), but, I decided to make meatballs the other night at 11:00. I weighed the consequences of eating so late and waited until the next day and had this for lunch - yes - with spaghetti. 

Meatballs or polpette as they're called in Italian aren't hard to make, but they're easy to screw up if you're not attentive. They can be eaten alone after being pan-fried in olive oil and served with lemon or they can be slightly sautéed and then poached in tomato sauce. I like them both ways and leftover meatballs make fantastic sandwiches with butter. 

One half pound of ground beef should yield about 8-10 meatballs, depending on how small or large you want them. There are several schools of thought about meatballs: using only beef, or combining beef, pork and veal. I prefer only beef but whatever you choose to do, make sure you have equal portions of each of the ground meats that you use.

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 medium sized chopped onion

1 chopped stalk celery

1 clove garlic, smashed and minced

about 25 leaves of flat parsley minced

18-20 basil leaves minced

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp. fennel seed

1/8 tsp. pulverized dried rosemary (I dry my own)

salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients with your hands until you have a hearty mass of meat, completely mixed, held together as if it were a ball of bread dough. If it is too dry, add a bit of milk; if it is too wet, add more cheese or bread crumb.

Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.

While the meat is resting, make the tomato sauce.

EVOO

1 onion minced

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

25 leaves fresh basil cut into chiffonade

2 cans crushed tomatoes

salt and pepper

pinch of sugar (optional)

Saute onions and garlic until translucent. Add the thyme and half the basil. Add the tomatoes and stir until well incorporated. Bring to the boil and turn down the heat to a bare simmer and cover. 

While sauce is simmering, form the meatballs with your hands (throw the ball into one of your hands as you form them to make them dense and compact) and place on a plate. Take a large cast iron skillet or any heavy bottomed pan and sauté the meatballs in olive oil. Salt each meatball and allow a nice brown skin to form on the bottom before turning over. (The meatballs will fall apart if you do this too soon, so make sure there is a good crust on the bottom before you turn them.)

Remove each meatball as they are done (they should be only partially cooked inside but brown on the outside) and carefully place each meatball into the pot with the sauce. Add the rest of the basil. Keep covered and simmer while you make the pasta (about 20 minutes). 

Take a very large pot and fill it with water. Cover the pot and bring to the boil, add a handful of Kosher salt and cook 1 pound of spaghetti. Cover the pot after you put in the pasta to bring it back to the boil faster and then remove the cover. Cook until al dente and drain in a colander. Put the pasta in a large bowl and mix with the sauce and serve with a meatball or two in each bowl and some grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Serves 4-6 people.

Simple!