Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Spaghetti and Meatball Sauce


I made this a couple of month ago. I don’t prepare dish like this often but if I do I will usually make a large batch of it and freeze some of it up. This way I can just warm it up and have it with spaghetti or make it into meatball sub. Instead of just ground beef I added some ground turkey to it too. It turns out really nice. Mmmm feeling like having this today. Maybe I should thaw out some and have it for dinner tonight.



Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey
1 pound ground beef
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 cloves garlic - chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg - beaten


For the sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup red wine
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes (chopped)
1 tbsp chopped parsley
3 tbsp roughly chopped basil
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper


1. Add breadcrumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper,  egg, and 3/4 cup water in a bowl. Mix it well. Add in the meat and mix until combined. Don’t over mix it as it will toughen up the meat ball. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 1 ½” inch meatballs. You will have 20-22 meatballs.
2. Pour some vegetable oil into a skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully every now and then.
3. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.
4. For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, bay leaves, sugar, salt, and pepper.
5. Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 45 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Add in the basil and stir well. Check seasonings.
6. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions. Once it is done serve them hot with the meatball sauce and some grated parmesan cheese.

7 comments:

Marcela said...

wow! It looks insane! I love this recipe!

PH said...

Gertrude, your spaghetti and meatballs looks so sedap! I want to cook it too :)

ann low said...

Hi Gert, Love this pasta meat balls. Mmm... I'm getting hungry now :D

Anonymous said...

halo,,
may i know what is season dry bread crumbs,,any subsitute,hope u can share ,thanks
marin--sg

Shereen said...

Yums! Can get rid of my many bottles of red wine if I cook this dish every other day.. Hehehe.

Anonymous said...

The most comforting meals ever!!!
ilove to add easy to meld cheese in the middle of the meatball too....

ICook4Fun said...

Marcela, thank you.

Phong Hong, thank you.

Ann, me too :)

Marin, the breadcrumbs came with seasonings like herbs, salt and pepper. If you can't find it just use regular breadcrumbs but you might need to add a bit more salt to the meat mixture.

Shereen, you can use the red wine for stew too.

Dentishvchef, adding cheese sounds great too :)