Spaghetti and Meatballs

I will fully admit that I am NOT a huge fan of spaghetti and meatballs.  I think it's the fact that I grew up eating hundreds of bowls of overcooked spaghetti, ragu, and frozen meatballs.  I did have it in restaurants from time to time, but again was never really blown away.  I made this by request from one of my friends and was hoping it would be satisfying at best.  It was not only satisfying, it was heart warming and easily jumped to the top of my list of favorite comfort food dishes to eat.  It was so good that I purposely didn't brush my teeth so I could let it linger for hours.  It was so good that I brushed my teeth eventually, burped 6 hours later, re-tasted the sauce and meatballs and savored it.


First off, lets make a few things clear.  If I were to take the meatballs out of this, I would relegate the spaghetti and marinara to the bottom of some olive garden pasta section.  This is about the meatballs and sauce.  Period.  The spaghetti adds a great layer of contrast and starch which matches the meatballs perfectly but again, lets not pretend the meatballs aren't the star of the show.

I don't even consider this a perfect dish.  I used pre-ground 85/15 mystery beef from the supermarket and canned tomatoes.  Ideally, I would grind my own beef and use super ripe fresh tomatoes for the sauce.  That being said, I probably would never actually do all that extra work.  The pre-ground beef is fine because the filling itself keeps the beef so moist.  The tartness from the canned tomatoes, while for my personal tastes is not perfect, works well with the savory meatballs, so I don't think using fresh tomatoes is really all that necessary.


ingredients:
2-3 servings (2 large servings, 3 normal servings)

meatballs
1.  2 slices white sandwich bread (crusts discarded), torn into small cubes
2.  1/2 cup buttermilk or 6 tablespoons plain yogurt thinned with 2 tablespoons milk
3.  18 oz supermarket ground beef
4.  1/4 cup + 2 TBL coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
5.  2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
6.  1 large egg yolk
7.  2 cloves garlic, grated on microplane
8.  3/4 teaspoon table salt
9.  freshly ground black pepper

10.  vegetable oil for frying

note: - I measure everything accurately for meatballs.  Too much or too little of an ingredient can make the meatballs noticeably too wet/dry.  Measure the salt as well as being off, even by 1/8 tsp, can make the meatballs slightly too salty/bland.

tomato sauce
11.  35 oz can of tuttorosso crushed tomatoes in thick puree with basil (the blue can)
12.  Extra Virgin Olive Oil, garlic, onions, carrots, basil, parsley, honey, etc. (really anything you want to add.  You can really even make this naked and only use the canned tomatoes)

garnish
13.  A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of minced parsley and parmesan cheese.

recipe:
1.  Combine the bread and buttermilk into a bowl and mash with a fork.  Let it sit for 5 minutes, stirring and mashing every minute until a smooth paste forms.
2.  To the paste add all of the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the ground beef, salt, and pepper.
3.  Mix everything thoroughly with a fork until well combined.
4.  Now, add the beef, salt, and pepper to the mixture.  Gently mix by hand until just combined.  It should take no more than 30 seconds to mix.  You don't want to over handle the beef or it can get dense and hard.
5.  Break off around 2-3 TBL chunks and GENTLY roll between both palms to form a rough ball (should take a few seconds per ball).  DO NOT push and compact the balls.  Gently roll them, putting just enough pressure on them so they stay in your hands as you roll.
6.  Place a large saute pan over medium high heat and pour in enough oil so that it is approximately 1/4" high.
7.  Place a large pot and enough water in it to cook 2-3 servings of spaghetti.
8.  When the oil comes up to temperature, place the meatballs into the pan starting at 12 o'clock and working your way around clockwise.  The meatballs should sizzle as soon as they touch the oil.
9.  The meatballs only really need 1-3 minutes to get brown and crusty on 1 side, so keep your eye on them.  Flip them over and brown the second side.  Remove to paper towel lined plate, and repeat with second batch if necessary.
10.  Discard all the oil but don't clean out the pan.  It is now that you decide how you will make your sauce.  I only put in a clove of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, a good amount of honey and some salt and pepper to taste.  You can add minced onions, carrots, or whatever you want.
11.  Add entire 35 oz can of crushed tomatoes and scrape down the bottom to loosen and browned bits.
12.  Let the sauce simmer, stirring occasionally, for a good 10 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning to taste.  I always fined canned tomatoes to be too sour for my tastes so I always end up adding a decent amount of sugar/honey.
note: - the way tomato sauce tastes alone IS NOT how it will taste with pasta.  In fact, you can use the same tomato sauce and eat it with several different types of pasta and it will taste different with each one.
note: - If the tomato sauce is slightly sweet tasted alone, it will still be noticeably sour when eaten with spaghetti.  So, if you want the sauce to taste slightly sweet when eaten with spaghetti, the sauce should taste almost too sweet when eaten alone.
note: - For this recipe, I actually didn't mind the sauce to be slightly sour, as it matched well with the meatballs.
13.  Add the meatballs back into the sauce and put over medium heat.
note: - frying the meatballs for only a few minutes will not fully cook the insides of the meatballs.  I finish cooking them in the sauce so be aware that you cannot just toss them in sauce and serve immediately.
14.  Cook the meatballs, gently flipping them a few times throughout cooking, for a solid 10 minutes.  Taste one to check if it is cooked through.  Keep the sauce over low heat.  If the sauce is too tight, add some water to it and mix.  Taste and adjust again if desired.
15.  Add enough salt to the boiling water so that it tastes almost like sea water.  Add 2-3 servings of spaghetti and cook until just al dente.  Taste the pasta to check for doneness and don't assume, guess, or get lazy with the cooking of it.
16.  Drain the spaghetti then place into serving bowls.  Top with sauce and meatballs.  Garnish with a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese, minced parsley, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.  Serve immediately.