Spaghetti + Meatballs=Love

from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

For the Meatballs…

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, minced
• black pepper
• milk
• olive oil for frying

For the Sauce…

• 1/3 whole onion, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped peppers (I used red, yellow, and orange)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 28 ounce can whole tomatoes
• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt
• black pepper
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, minced
• 1/8 cup fresh oregano, minced
• cooked spaghetti

Directions:

For the Meatballs…

Fill a large bowl with beef, garlic, bread crumbs, eggs, and Parmesan. Add a splash of milk and a sprinkling of ground black pepper. Then, use your hands to combine everything together. Mix it real well! Then roll it into 1″ balls, and place in 9×13″ or cookie sheet. This should make about 3 dozen meatballs. Place in refrigerator for at least 10 minutes to firm up, but you can leave them up to 24 hours. I made my meatballs in the morning and cooked them in the evening and it worked out great.

When you’re ready to cook the meatballs, heat olive oil in a heavy stock pot (or a skillet deep enough for the sauce ingredients too) on medium-high heat. Brown meatballs in batches of 8-10, depending on the size of the pan or pot. When meatballs are browned (be sure to flip frequently to brown on all sides), drain on paper towel(s) over a plate and set aside. Do NOT wash the pot. Use it to make the sauce. It will be so good.

For the sauce…

Using the same pot as before, cook onions, peppers, and garlic until soft. This should take a few minutes but not much more. Add tomatoes and wine and stir together. Then add sugar, parsley, oregano, a dash of salt, and a healthy sprinkling of ground black pepper. Mix together, then let cook uncovered for 20 minutes over medium heat.  Add meatballs to the pot, stir to combine, and turn the heat down to low. Let simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Stir every so often and be sure to taste it during this portion and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Meanwhile, make the pasta. Once the sauce is done, top pasta with sauce and extra Parmesan and enjoy!

Notes:

This makes a ton of sauce. Actually, about 8-9 cups. Not a ton, but close. For the two of us, this was more than enough for two generous servings for dinner, then one smaller serving to finish off the pasta I made (eaten another night as leftovers). Then, I froze the rest of the sauce and meatballs in 3 cup containers (full) for future dinners. You could decrease the amounts but I love the “work once, eat many times” approach here. 🙂