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| Spaghetti & Meatballs |
by Amanda FormaroMy family's all time favorite meal is homemade spaghetti and meatballs. My mother in law passed her recipe on to me and I made my own adjustments and came up with our weekly Sunday ritual. This recipe takes a little extra time and there is no way to throw this together at 5:00 P.M., so plan this for a weekend assembly and freeze extras for quicker prep time. Meatballs 1 pound ground beef 3/4 pound ground pork 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 handfuls of bread crumbs 2 tablespoons dried basil 2-3 handfuls of freshly grated parmesan cheese 2 eggs salt and pepper to taste Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Use hands to thoroughly mix everything together. Form meatballs, approximately 1 1/2" in diameter, by rolling between your palms. If meat mixture is too wet or sticky, add more bread crumbs to the mix. Makes 35-40 meatballs. Sauce olive oil small onion, chopped 1-2 cloves garlic 2 6-oz cans tomato paste 1 15-oz can tomato sauce 6 tomato paste cans of water salt and pepper 2 tablespoons dried basil 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese Heat oil, onion and garlic. Carefully remove garlic and onion and put in large saucepan. Add water, tomato sauce and tomato paste to garlic and onion. Mix well. Add basil, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Add parmesan cheese and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer. Makes enough sauce for two family size servings (family size = 4 adults or 2 adults and 4 children with leftovers). Freezing The meatballs and the sauce both freeze very well. Split meatballs up into batches that fit your family. We generally split our full batch into 3 meals. Place meatballs into a gallon size zipper lock freezer bag. Lie flat so that none of the meatballs are on top of one another. Squeeze out any excess air and zip shut. Freeze up to 6 months, but they probably won't last that long because your family will want more! To freeze the sauce, allow it to cool then place an empty gallon sized zipper lock freezer bag into an empty coffee can. Open the bag. Pour the sauce into the bag, squeeze out excess air and zip shut. Lie bag of sauce flat in freezer. After an hour or so bag will be frozen flat and you should be able to stack it with other frozen foods. To thaw, place in refrigerator for up to two days. Quick thaw can be done in pans of cold water for the bag of sauce and in the microwave (defrost function) for the meatballs. Do NOT thaw meat on the countertop at room temperature. The Meal Bring sauce and meatballs to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 90 minutes. Meatballs can be simmered as long as 3 hours, the longer they are simmered the better. 15 minutes before meatballs are done, cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions. Remove meatballs with a slotted spoon and place in a warm serving dish; set aside. When noodles are done, drain and rinse according to package directions. Pour noodles into serving bowl and toss with a couple of handfuls of freshly grated parmesan cheese. This adds not only a wonderful flavor to your spaghetti, but it also helps hold the sauce on the noodles. Add enough sauce to coat but do not make your spaghetti swim! Serve topped with meatballs and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Mangia! (Eat!) |
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About the Author: Amanda Formaro is the entrepreneurial mother of four children. She is also the owner of FamilyCorner.com Magazine at http://familycorner.com from which she operates several free newsletters, including her favorite Comforts of Home.. To subscribe send any email message to mailto:kitchen-on@mail-list.com . |
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Let's Get Cooking!
