Hello Dolls,
I love a large plate of homemade spaghetti and meatballs. The more meatballs the better. The anatomy of a delicious spaghetti and meatballs dish is simple. It consists of al dente noodles, a simple, yet tasty sauce and flavorful meatballs.
I shared this recipe in my End of Summer: a Week of Soft Living Vlog. Click to join me in cooking this delicious meal.
This is a one-pan pasta dish.
Its pretty methodical, but its an efficient sequence that saves me from washing an extra pot or two :) Plus, cooking the pasta sauce in the same pan as the meatballs adds extra flavor.
My sequence is as follows:
Cook pasta in a pan, Place pasta in the tupperware dish you'll use for leftovers, then Prepare meatballs in a seperate bowl, Cook meatballs in the pan, Transfer meatballs to the side (I use the my dinner plate or lid of the tupperware dish, because again I like to minimize dish washing), Add the tomato sauce ingredients into the pan, Add back in meatballs, bring to a simmer, Then add the cooked pasta back into the pan.
PASTA SAUCE
28 oz of canned crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon peppercorn medley, or freshly grounded black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons of onion powder or 1/3 cup of finely chopped onions or 2 tablespoon of sugar, to taste
(Adding onions and/or sugar are known ways of cutting acidity)
MEATBALLS
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon peppercorn medley, or freshly grounded black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
PASTA
In this recipe, I use linguine which is a personal preference. Feel free to use your favorite pasta, whether that be spaghetti, angel hair, fettuccine, linguine, etc. Just be sure to adjust the cook time.
Bring a pot of water to boil, add in your choice of pasta & cook al dente. Drain then place pasta to the side. Leave a bit of the pasta water so the noodles will not dry out.
MEATBALLS
Add ground beef into a separate bowl. Break apart & mash with a spatula or spoon
Add in panko bread crumbs & mix together until fully combined.
Add in all seasonings & chopped basil. Mix until fully combined.
Form the ground beef mixture into small to medium equally-sized meatballs. (The bigger the meatball, the longer it takes to cook)
On medium-high heat, add in meatballs and allow each side to cook until brown. Then gently turnover meatballs to cook on the next side.
Once meatballs are almost fully brown on every side, lower the stove to low heat then cover the pan for about 3-5 minutes so the meatballs can finish cooking on the inside.
Once fully cooked, add the meatballs into a different dish. (As mentioned before, I place the meatballs in my dinner plate or lid of the Tupperware dish, because I like to minimize dish-washing.)
PASTA SAUCE
On medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and stir in minced garlic for about 60 seconds. If you're using finely chopped onions, now is the time to add it in and cook until soft.
Pour in the 280z of crushed tomatoes into the pan and bring to boil. Stir occasionally.
Stir in all seasonings and chopped basil.
If you're using onion powder or sugar, now is the time to do a taste-test to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes. Season to taste.
Bring to simmer and cover pan & allow it to cook for about 5 minutes.
Stir in cooked meatballs, cover pan & allow to simmer for about 3 minutes.
Lastly add in cooked pasta & stir in until fully combined.
et voila!
A one-pan, homemade creation of spaghetti & meatballs.
Enjoy this homemade creation with garlic bread and a light side salad topped with my homemade Italian dressing recipe!
What's your favorite one-pan or one-pot dinner?
Share your favorite Italian recipe with me below!
Comment Below & Let's Chat Dolls
