Italian
Spaghetti with Meatballs
by Casa Pappagallo · 705K subscribers on YouTube
An iconic Italian-American dish of spaghetti with large meatballs simmered in a rich tomato sauce. The meatballs are made with a mix of beef and pork, potatoes, and Parmesan, then fried before finishing in the sauce.
- Difficulty
- medium
Ingredients
14 items- Olive OilFor sauce and frying
- 2 pcsGarlicCloves
- Tomato PassataTo taste
- Fresh BasilA sprig
- SaltTo taste
- BreadFor soaking, preferably stale
- Ground Beef
- Ground Pork
- Grated Parmigiano ReggianoFor the meatballs and to serve
- Egg
- Boiled PotatoesMashed
- Breadcrumbs(optional) — If needed to adjust moisture
- Spaghetti
- WaterFor cooking pasta and thinning sauce
Method
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan with two cloves of garlic. Add tomato passata, fresh basil, and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium-low heat to make the sauce.
- Soak bread in water or milk until soft.
- In a bowl, combine beef and pork mince, grated Parmesan, eggs, mashed boiled potatoes, and salt. Squeeze the soaked bread and add it. If the mixture is too wet, add breadcrumbs. Let rest for 30 minutes.
- Shape the mixture into meatballs of about 50 g each.
- Fry the meatballs in hot oil until golden brown.
- Add the fried meatballs to the tomato sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add half a glass of boiling water. Simmer for at least 10 minutes.
- Cook spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente.
- Transfer some of the tomato sauce (with some meatballs reserved) to a pan. Add the drained spaghetti and a little pasta water, and toss to finish cooking.
- Serve the spaghetti with a few meatballs on top, extra sauce, and grated Parmesan cheese.
Casa Pappagallo
Home cook705K subscribers on YouTube163.1M total channel viewsCasa Pappagallo, casa nostra! Proprio così, vi apro le porte di casa mia per condividere con tutti voi ricette, i miei esperimenti di produzione agroalimentare e tanto altro.
