Wednesday, September 9, 2009

What's to Eat? Wednesday: One of the Best Meals I've Ever Made

Yep. I have to be honest. The recipe I'm about to share is about one of the best I've ever made. Just ask the husband. He ate it for like a week straight. It makes a lot by the by, but you will not get tired of left overs. In fact, I made this last week and he's requesting for it again already. I'm going to have to deny him of it though for now. I'd like to keep it special!


Real Meatballs and Spaghetti


Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
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
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 extra-large egg, beaten
Vegetable oil
Olive oil

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


For serving:

1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.
Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) 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 with a spatula or a fork. 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.

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more 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, salt, and pepper.
Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.


I promise you will love this. The only thing I changed was that I doubled the ground pork and didn't use the veal simply because I couldn't find it. I have honestly never had veal before so I couldn't tell you whether it would be better with or without it.

Hope you all enjoy. You can thank Ina Garten again for another fantabulous meal! The garlic bread she recommends is also wonderful. Click here for the recipe.

5 comments :

  1. This looks delicious! I will have to try this!

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  2. Looks fantastic. I'm bookmarking this one! ;)

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  3. That is making my MOUTH water. Sometimes the best meals, are the ones that just are simple and fantastic.

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  4. I just got SO hungry reading this post!

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