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Spaghetti and Meatballs

It’s Sunday and I decided to make a classic Italian dish – Spaghetti and Meatballs! These meatballs are made with ground beef, hot Italian and sweet Italian sausage. You can’t have spaghetti and meatballs without sauce, so I’ve also made a wonderful sauce (or gravy depending where you’re from) to go with it. Recipe for the sauce below too. Two for one!

This dish isn’t difficult to make, tastes SO much better than pre-made, AND you get the added bonus of your house smelling amazing all day.

The meat mixture is 1/2 sausage and 1/2 ground beef and as a result, they come out very sausage-like. I loved the way they turned out but you may be used to an all beef meatball. If that is the case, I’d recommend only using a 1/2 pound of each type of sausage for a 1/3 sausage to 2/3 ground beef ratio. It would also be delicious using all ground beef. Either way, make this the next time you need to feed a crowd without being in the kitchen all day. Mangia!

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Spaghetti and Meatballs

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By Patrick Dulmage – Serves: 10-12
Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 30 minutes – Total Time: 40 minutes

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ingredients

  • Meatballs:
  • 2 lbs ground beef (preferably ground chuck)
  • 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
  • 1 lb hot Italian sausage
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 ½ tbsp. sea salt
  • 1 tbsp ground pepper
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbsp Italian seasoning OR 2 tbsp freshly cut Italian parsley
  • 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
  • 1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 3 eggs
  • Sauce:
  • 2 28-ounce cans whole San Marzano tomatoes, certified D.O.P. if possible
  • 1 can tomato paste (I like the sauce thick. It also gives you the option to add more liquid to stretch the sauce if needed)
  • 1 cup diced Vidalia onion
  • 1 cup chopped baby bella mushrooms
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 7 garlic cloves, peeled and slivered
  • 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp grnd black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 large fresh basil sprig, or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, more to taste

Instructions

1

Meatballs:

2

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

3

Thoroughly mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

4

Roll into golf ball size balls and put on a sheet tray.

5

Bake for about 25-30 minutes (depending on the size of the meatballs and your oven).

6

Sauce:

7

Pour the tomatoes in a large bowl and crush with your hands.

8

Pour 1 cup water in the can to get the tomato juice. Reserve.

9

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

10

When the oil is hot, add the garlic but don’t let it burn.

11

When the garlic is sizzling, add the tomatoes and the reserved tomato water along with the red pepper flakes, oregano, and salt.

12

Place basil sprig, including stem on the surface.

13

Simmer sauce until thickened, about 15 minutes.

14

Taste for seasoning, add more salt or oregano if needed.

Notes

Serve with a nice loaf of Italian bread and good butter.

Meatballs
March 29, 2020 By
Beef/ Pork

Stuffed Cabbage

I love stuffed cabbage any time of the year but especially in the winter! After years of making Grandma’s version – which is delicious, I made a few tweaks. My version turned out pretty well. My Nana used three meats, beef, pork, and veal. I used beef and pork.

I hope you will try my version and let me know what you think.

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Stuffed Cabbage

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Beef – Polish
By Patrick Dulmage – Serves: 12
Prep Time: 30 minutes – Cooking Time: 1 hour – Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Great stuffed cabbage recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 large head cabbage
  • Sauce:
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 ½ diced/chopped onion (medium sized onions)
  • 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes and their juice (San Marzano tomatoes please)
  • ¼ - ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • ½ - 1 tsp crushed red pepper
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 – 2 tbsp parsley
  • Filling:
  • 1 lb grass-fed ground beef
  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • ¼ - ½ cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup cooked white rice (leftover rice from Chinese takeout works great)
  • 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 – 2 tbsp parsley
  • 1-2 tsp oregano

Instructions

1

Prepare cabbage – core the head of cabbage, then boil for approximately 15-20 minutes. Remove from water and let cool.

2

Prepare the filling – combine the beef, pork, parmesan, eggs, and rice to a large bowl along with the garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Gently mix with your hands until the meats and other ingredients are thoroughly combined. Let the mixture rest covered in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to one day. Note that when it is time to cook the mixture it is best to allow time for it to come to room temperature.

3

Prepare the sauce – Heat your pan to medium to med-high heat with olive oil. When you see the oil shimmer, it’s time to add the onion and a little salt. Cook for about 8 minutes or translucent. Add the tomatoes and garlic along with the brown sugar, crushed red pepper, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer for 30 minutes. Take about a half cup of the sauce and mix in with the filling.

4

Assembly time – Gently pull the cabbage leaves from the head of cabbage to leave the leaves fully intact. Spoon approximately 4 oz. of mixture into a large leaf and roll it up similar to a burrito. Place in the pot, seam side down.

5

Your pot should be prepared with a few spoonfuls of your sauce. As you get toward the center of the cabbage, the leaves get smaller. Use two over-lapping leaves if need to complete a roll. Place the rolls cabbage into the bed of the pot. Depending on the type of pot you use, you may ended up stacking the rolls in the pot. If that is the case alternate sauce, roll, then more sauce, another roll, and so on.

6

Once finished, pour any remaining sauce over the rolls. Bake covered in tin foil at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. After the timer goes off, remove from oven and let rest about 10 minutes.

Notes

A little sour cream on the side is a nice addition. Pro Tip: Put some foil or something else under the pot you’re cooking in just in case some of the sauce bubbles over.

January 1, 2020 By