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Meaty with a dash of veggies

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Meat Noodles Lunch / Dinner Main Courses One Bowl Meals Pasta

Spaghetti and meatballs

Published: 11.12.2021 » Last updated: 05.11.2022

An Italian-American dish, spaghetti and meatballs is comfort food for generations. I’ve cooked it so many times but I have to admit that it’s only recently that I found the real secret to the best meatballs for this dish. Lighter and bouncier meatballs. Not overbearingly dense. That’s how I like them.

Spaghetti and meatballs garnished with grated Pecorino and basil leaves

The secret is in the kneading. Just like kneading dough when making bread. You knead dough to coax the formation of gluten. You knead ground meat to break down fibers, and turn the bits of meat into a paste that binds more easily with the other ingredients.

First, season the ground beef and add the three ingredients that will help bind everything together. I cannot overstress the importance of binders because you don’t want the meatballs to crack and fall apart when you simmer them in the sauce.

Seasoning and kneading the ground beef

The seasonings are, quite simply, salt, pepper, dried onion and dried garlic. Why dried? Because we don’t want to add unnecessary moisture to the mixture. Moisture creates steam inside the meatballs and that makes it more difficult for them to retain their shape. The binders are grated Pecorino, panko and egg. To make the meatballs bouncier, we add a little baking powder.

Once all the seasonings and binders have been mixed with the ground beef, we knead. Don’t think it’s a lot of hard work. A few minutes of kneading by hand is enough. But if you want to hasten the process even more, dump the ground beef mixture into the mixer and knead with the paddle attachment.

Forming ground beef mixture into meatballs

To make uniform-sized meatballs, we use an ice cream scoop. A small one about two inches in diameter. The meatballs are arranged on a baking tray and they go into the oven to brown. Browning adds flavor. It also creates a crust that makes it even harder for the meatballs to fall apart when added to the sauce.

Sauteeing garlic, onion and oregano in olive oil then pouring in tomato sauce, adding pepper and bay leaf

As for the pasta sauce, we make it from scratch. Onion, garlic and oregano are sauteed in olive oil, homemade tomato sauce is poured in, bay leaf is added and the seasonings are stirred in. While the sauce simmers to reduce and concentrate the flavors, we cook the pasta.

Cooking spaghetti in salted water

We always add salt to the water before dropping in the noodles. We want the noodles seasoned all the way to the core. It’s smarter than simply relying on the sauce to provide flavor. By the time the sauce is simmering and the noodles are boiling, the meatballs should be ready to exit the oven.

Stirring browned meatballs in tomato sauce

The browned meatballs are dumped into the sauce and simmered. As the flavors of the meatballs and the sauce blend together, chances are, you will need to adjust the seasonings to balance everything.

Adding half-cooked pasta to tomato sauce

Once the sauce is perfectly seasoned, check the spaghetti. While they are still a bit undercooked, scoop them out and add the noodles to the simmering sauce. Toss to coat each strand. The noodles will finish cooking in the hot sauce and, at the same time, soak up the lovely flavors.

Full recipe below

Spaghetti and meatballs

Connie Veneracion
To cut down the cooking time, prep, shape and brown the meatballs in the oven. Meanwhile, cook the pasta and the sauce on the stovetop. By the time the meatballs are browned, the sauce will be ready to receive them.
Spaghetti and meatballs in white shallow bowl
Print
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian-American
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

Meatballs

  • 250 grams ground beef - with at least 20% fat
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried onion
  • ½ teaspoon dried garlic
  • ⅓ cup grated Pecorino
  • ¼ cup bread crumbs - Japanese panko is recommended
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 egg

Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion - peeled and chopped
  • 2 large cloves garlic - peeled and chopped
  • 1 sprig oregano - stripped and stem discarded
  • 4 cups tomato sauce
  • 1 to 2 bay leaves
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sugar - optional

Spaghetti

  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 150 grams spaghetti

Garnish

  • grated Pecorino
  • basil leaves

Instructions
 

Make the meatballs

  • Preheat the oven to 400F.
  • Place the ground beef in a mixing bowl.
  • Add salt, pepper, dried onion and dried garlic.
  • Mix until combined.
  • Add the Pecorino and mix.
  • Add the bread crumbs and baking powder. Mix until blended.
  • Add the egg and mix to incorporate.
  • Knead in the mixing bowl for a few minutes until everything comes together and the bits of meat appear smaller.
  • Form into balls an inch and half in diameter, and arrange on a lightly oiled baking tray.
  • Brown in the oven for 15 minutes.

Cook the sauce

  • Heat the olive oil in a pan.
  • Spread the chopped onion, garlic and oregano leaves in the hot oil and saute for a few minutes.
  • Pour in the tomato sauce, add a teaspoon of salt, a quarter teaspoon of pepper and, optionally, a teaspoon of sugar.
  • Bring to the boil, cover and leave to simmer.

Cook the spaghetti

  • Boil water in a pot and add a teaspoon of salt.
  • Dump in the spaghetti, leave until pliable, then stir during the first minute of boiling.

Complete the dish

  • Take the meatballs out of the oven and dump into the simmering sauce.
  • Simmer for a few minutes then taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings, if needed.
  • While the spaghetti is still a bit undercooked, drain and dump into the sauce.
  • Toss just until combined.
  • Serve your spaghetti and meatballs with more grated Pecorino and whole basil leaves.
Print
Keyword Ground Beef, Meatballs, Spaghetti

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Connie Veneracion, Chiang Mai, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Welcome to Umami Days, a blog that advocates innovative home cooking for pleasurable everyday dining. No trendy diets, no food fads and definitely no ludicrous recipe names like crustless quiche, noodleless pho or chocolate lasagna.

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