This weekend was again busy for Mr. Schwartz and myself. He was up in our home town working on projects that involved more tools than we have and I was running all around town. Finally on Sunday we reconnected and it was so nice to have some "down time" together. This really consisted of working on more things around the house. Weird how that really eats up our time these days.
Anyway, I thought it would be nice to make a good Sunday supper. Spaghetti and Meatballs. Let me tell you, this is pretty stinkin' good. I used two of the left over Italian turkey sausages from
this recipe that I had stored in the freezer for a rainy day. Although it was not rainy it was a perfect addition to the meatballs. This sauce for this could not be easier or tastier. Slightly sweet and very simple to make. Love that.
After we ate Mr. Schwartz sunk deep into the couch and into a football coma. Hello Fall. Oh well, I tinkered around and planned for his birthday bash we are having at the house this Saturday. I'm so excited to have our first party!! You better believe there will be some good stuff coming out of the kitchen for the party. Stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy, Spaghetti and Meatballs!
Musical Selection: Love Lost by: the Temper Trap. I really have no reason. But I dig it.
Start with the meatballs. Chop up some parsley.
Here are the Italian turkey sausages. These are so tasty but feel free to use plain turkey sausage or pork sausage or just additional ground beef.
Slice the casing open and take the meat out.
Yes, I admit that I used jarred garlic. I'm lazy, it was sunday.
Combine the parsley, turkey sausage with eggs and ground beef.
Add bread crumbs.
Parmesan cheese, with some salt and pepper as well.
Mix until incorporated. Make sure to not over mix--that leads to tough meatballs. Nothin' worse than though meatballs.
Then ball them up. I used my cookie scoop so that they were somewhat even in size.
Line them up on a cookie sheet and put them into the freezer for about 5 minutes to firm up. I didn't do this. Do as I say not as I do--some of my balls fell apart.
Preheat a large pot or Dutch oven on medium to medium high heat with about 1/8 of a cup of olive oil. This doesn't have to be exact. Put 1/2 of the meatballs into the pot. Make sure to not crowd them otherwise it will be hard to turn them.
Brown on at least 3 sides. Thanks to Mr. Schwartz I now have a coated set of tongs. He sure knows the way into my heart, one Williams Sonoma bag at a time.
Your meatballs will look like this, brown on a few sides and pink in the middle. Don't worry, that is okay. Then you say "wait, don't you always say turkey and chicken should always be cooked through." Yes, good catch. But, we are going to finish cooking these in the sauce. Yep, we are. No worries. Set the first batch aside.
Add the next meatballs to the pan. Don't worry if it looks like the bits from the others will burn. It will all be okay. Brown these on at least 3 sides as well. Once they are done, put them on the plate with the others.
Start with the sauce after the meatballs are done. The recipe I found calls for one can of crushed tomatoes and one of whole tomatoes. Gross. I'm not a huge tomato fan, well fresh tomatoes or large chunks of tomatoes. So, I substituted tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes. I found this to be the perfect combination for the sauce. But, do whatever you like. I felt real classy using the organic crushed tomatoes btw. They were the only crushed tomatoes at Super Target. Weird huh?
Anyway, chop up your onion and add it to the pan. See the brown bits on the bottom, it's okay they add flavor.
Then some garlic. Yep, from the jar. Don't judge.
Pour in the tomato sauce...
And crushed tomatoes...
Add the salt. Say hi to my foot in the left of this picture.
Sugar and black pepper....
A few shakes of red pepper flakes if you want to spice it up a bit...
And some parsley. Taste it at this point and add additional pepper and salt. I'd wait on the red pepper flakes if you want it spicer. They take a bit to get rehydrated and spice the sauce. You can always add them later.
Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
In the meantime you can make garlic compote butter for some garlic bread. Why not? 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons garlic, 1 tablespoon parsley, salt and pepper.
Stir it up.
Slather it on some bread and pop it in the oven at 400 right before you cook your noodles. It should be done in about 10 minutes or when your noodles are done.
After the sauce simmers for about 20 minutes add the meatballs. Although it looks like I dumped them in, I used my tongs to strategically place them in the sauce.
Yep, meatballs in a hot tub of red sauce. Let them simmer for about 30 minutes. This way the sauce and the meatballs flavors combine.
Cook your noodles. Try using a bigger pot than I did. Seriously what the heck.
Here they are, just waiting to be on top of a bed of sketti.
Yep, hello.
Get in my belly.
I was really surprised about how good the turkey and ground beef went together but really it was quite tasty and had less fat and calories than using pork.
Yah, about that garlic toast. I burnt it because I put it under the broiler. Oh well, the charredness went pretty good with the sauce.
Interior of meatball--just what you want to see right!?
Done and done.
Try this one out, I don't think you will be disappointed. I think that it would be great to entertain with as well. Make up a bunch of noodles and put them into a huge serving bowl. Ladle the sauce and meatballs over the noodles. Top with parmesan cheese and some additional parsley. I think it would be a hit with a few loaves of garlic toast and a crisp salad. There you go, go do it!
Ingredients
- Meatballs:
- 1 pound Ground Beef
- 2 large Italian Sausage links, casings removed
- 3 cloves Garlic, Minced or 2 1/2 tablespoons
- 3/4 cups Fine Bread Crumbs
- 2 Eggs
- 3/4 cups Freshly Grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup Flat-leaf Parsley, Minced
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/8 cup Olive Oil
- Sauce:
- 1 whole Yellow Onion, Diced
- 3 cloves Garlic, Minced or 2 1/2 tablespoons
- 1 whole (28-ounce) Can Tomato Sauce
- 1 whole 28 Ounce Can Crushed Tomatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- A few shakes of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
- 1/4 cup Flat-leaf Parsley, Minced
- 1 pounds Spaghetti, Cooked To Al Dente
Preparation Instructions
For the meatballs, combine meat, garlic, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley in a mixing bowl. Mix together well with hands. Be carful to not over mix. Roll into 25 1 1/2-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Using a cookie scoop helps create a similar size to all of the meatballs. Place cookie sheet into the freezer for 5 minutes to firm up.
To brown the meatballs, heat olive oil in a heavy pot or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of the turning to brown on at least 3 sizes. Remove and place on a plate after each batch. Set meatballs aside.
In the same pot, add the onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes, or until soft. Pour in tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, sugar, crushed red pepper flakes and parsley. Stir to combine and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.
Add meatballs to pot and stir in gently. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring very gently a couple of times during the simmer.
Serve over cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan.
Enjoy!!
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