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!
Spaghetti and Meatballs
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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
Meatballs:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Thoroughly mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Roll into golf ball size balls and put on a sheet tray.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes (depending on the size of the meatballs and your oven).
Sauce:
Pour the tomatoes in a large bowl and crush with your hands.
Pour 1 cup water in the can to get the tomato juice. Reserve.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
When the oil is hot, add the garlic but don’t let it burn.
When the garlic is sizzling, add the tomatoes and the reserved tomato water along with the red pepper flakes, oregano, and salt.
Place basil sprig, including stem on the surface.
Simmer sauce until thickened, about 15 minutes.
Taste for seasoning, add more salt or oregano if needed.
Notes
Serve with a nice loaf of Italian bread and good butter.
