Real Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce
Real Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce
The aroma alone fills the house with a mouth watering meal. It draws everyone into the kitchen to sample the meatballs. This recipe is to show you how to make a real spaghetti and meatball sauce.
Real Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce
Who doesn't like meatballs? Especially when they are swimming in a delicious tomato sauce. This was never a written recipe. It was made with "love" the way all older Italian mothers made it. It was just handed down from one generation to another, which is why I call it "Real Italian". But to put it on this Hub, I had to actually write down the recipes as I was making it and measure the ingredients.
My mother, who's family is from northern Italy, showed me how to make this before I was even married. My Sicilian mother-in-law had a hand in the meatball mix. Even my sisters showed me how to drop the raw meatballs right into the sauce without frying or baking them.
Spaghetti sauce, which is how we always called it, is very personal. If you don't like an ingredient or an herb, don't use it, or if you want a thicker sauce, cook it longer or if you want it thiner, cook it less. But, please use the basic recipe, I am here to show you how to make authentic meatballs with spaghetti sauce.
The aroma fills the house and draws in everyone to sample the meatballs before dinner. Usually almost half the meatballs would be missing. Spaghetti and meatballs (we said spaghetti no matter what pasta we were eating) were always served on Sunday afternoons and once during the week. My mother would get up really early on Sunday morning to have this sauce done before we went to church. Make your family happy and try this recipe. Mongia Buona!
Real Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce
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Cook Time
Ingredients
- For the Meatballs: ingredients to follow
- 2 lbs. hamburg
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cu seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated Pecorino, Romano cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
- 1 1/2 tspn. fresh mint, chopped small or 3/4 tspn. of dried mint
- To taste salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup cold water
- For the Sauce: ingredients to follow
- 1 (28oz.) can tomato puree
- 2 (6oz.) can tomato paste
- 1 tblspn. fresh oregano, chopped or 1/2 tblspn. dried
- 1 tblspn. dried basil, chopped
- 2 dashes red pepper flakes
- to taste salt and pepper
- a pinch white sugar
- 1 tblspn extra virgin olive oil
- Fill half of the 28oz. can and 4 of the 6oz. cans with water
Instructions
- For the Sauce: Add the oil to a heated large pot. Add the garlic and simmer for 30 seconds, then add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Stir to make sure the tomato paste is completely dissolved. It's better for the sauce to start off on the thin side and let it cook down to be thick. You get more flavor that way. Turn stove up to medium.
- For the Meatballs: Mix the breadcrumbs and the milk together. Mix all the meatball ingredients (including the breadcrumbs and milk) together. Don't over mix or they will get hard.
- Make the meatballs and drop them right into the tomato sauce, you should get at least 21 meatballs. When they are all in the sauce, just push them down into the sauce. Don't stir the sauce yet, you will break up the meatballs. Simmer with a lid for 15 minutes then you could stir gently to bring up the thickened sauce from the bottom of the pot.
- Stir occasionally with lid on for about an hour.
