Spaghetti and Meatballs
Serves 4-5.
1 ½ lbs. spaghetti
6 cups tomato sauce
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground sirloin
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbs. ground onion (about a quarter of an onion)
1 tbs. parsley or thyme, finely chopped (only one)
2 cups fresh white breadcrumbs (stale white bread ground in a food processor)
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup whole milk (enough milk to wet crumbs without them sitting in a big puddle)
1 pinch chili flakes
¼ cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
Vegetable oil, to coat the pan
Salt and ground black pepper
- Soak breadcrumbs in milk for about 5 minutes or until all the milk is absorbed.
- Add onion, garlic, chili flakes, grated cheese, eggs, herbs, pepper, and salt (if you like things on the saltier side like me, a small palm-ful is good). Mix everything well. Add meat. Mix gently until just combined.
- Form golf ball sized balls. Don’t tightly pack the meatballs. Only handle them until just round. You can also make one tiny marble sized meatball (cook this one in the pan to make sure your seasoning is right. If it needs more salt, just sprinkle the formed meatballs with more salt).
- Meanwhile, heat up a big pot of water to a rolling boil. Make the spaghetti according to the package.
- Heat up a pan on high. Add oil and let it heat up. When almost smoking, add the meatballs, trying not to overcrowd the pan. It’ll probably take two batches of cooking to get them all.
- Sear the meatballs on all sides. Take them out of the pan and set them aside.
- Drain the excess grease from the pan, if there is any. Lower flame to medium and add tomato sauce. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Let tomato sauce come to a bare simmer. Add all meatballs to sauce and let simmer for about 8-10 minutes to finish off cooking.
- Toss together spaghetti, meatballs, and sauce. Serve with more cheese on the side.
The key to this recipe is the use of fresh breadcrumbs and soaking them in milk. I had always used dry breadcrumbs (the kind in a can) and the meatballs always came out a little too dense. The milk-soaked fresh crumbs give a lightness and creaminess to the meatballs. Almost as good as grandma’s.
it was very delicious. :)
This is my first time to your blog…those meat balls are delicious…must try it….uphere i always have a hard time trying to find ingredients…one of my friend introduced me to a great resource http://www.myethnicworld.com and i thought that i pass great along as well.
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That was a tasty dish….. I loved it… But why are you using Vegetable oils which are unhealthy to our body?? You can use Patan ghee which is a different form of clarified butter and gives a better taste… On offense bro but vegetable oils are really harmful to our heart….
I think you should provide the pics also as from recipe its feeling so tasty but if you add pics then we can find how it will look.
I’m going to try soaking my breadcrumbs in milk next time. Had no idea why my meatballs were always too heavy! Thank you!
Your advice is great! My meatballs are always way too dense. Soaking the breadcrumbs in milk! Who knew!