Be warned, though: meatballs aren't quick. There are multiple steps involved and you need to be prepared. The last time I made meatballs it was a mess of dirty dishes, splattered grease, and broken dreams. This time, though, I learned from my mistakes. I grew. I prospered.
The key to making meatballs, I found, is having clean dishes ready. You need a bowl for mixing the meatballs together, a platter or dish for holding the formed but uncooked meatballs, a heavy skillet or stock pot with oil in it for browning the meatballs, and then yet another dish for holding the browned meatballs. If you're prepared, then you will be fine. You, like me, will feel like you're qualified to give advice on prepping meatballs. I'm totally qualified.
Start by mixing 1 pound of ground beef, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 3/4 cup of fine bread crumbs, 1 egg, 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of minced basil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a splash of milk. Take off your rings so they don't get meaty, and then mix all these ingredients together with your hands. When the meat is mixed thoroughly, form into 1 inch balls and place on a clean dish. This made 29 meatballs exactly. If you make 30, you're in big trouble, mister.
Not really. You're not in trouble.
When you're done making the meatballs, start cooking the meatballs. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a heavy skillet or stock pot. Cook the meatballs, eight at a time, on each side until browned but not cooked through. This doesn't take long, only a couple of minutes on each side.
Transfer the browned meatballs to another dish, and repeat with the remaining raw meatballs.
Alright. If there is a hard time, which there isn't if you plan, that's it. You're done. Next up, the sauce.
Drain the excess oil and add 1 whole yellow onion, diced. Saute for a couple of minutes, then add 3 cloves of garlic, minced, and cook for about two more minutes. When those are translucent but not brown, add a can of diced San Marzano tomatoes and a can of whole San Marzano tomatoes, some salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar (the sugar counters the acidity of the tomatoes), some oregano, and some red pepper flakes. Let this cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes. If you have a mesh splatter guard thing, use it. It will splatter.
Then, add the browned meatballs right into the sauce, reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for 30 minutes. This will finish the cooking of the meatballs and add a really great flavor to the sauce.
Boil some water while this is cooking away and then cook the spaghetti until al dente. Usually, like when I'm making pesto, I mix the pasta with the sauce, but this time I knew I had way to much sauce for pasta, so I drained the pasta and put pasta in a bowl and added the sauce on top. Then I added the meatballs, some salt and pepper, and some Parmesan cheese, of course.
This hearty meal was perfect for a (still) cold Monday night. Even though the meatballs aren't as quick as most Pasta recipes I post on here are, it was worth it. Delicious and oh so flavorful.
If I can do this without covering my kitchen in a layer of raw meat and grease, you can too. You can.
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