Meatballs & spaghetti

I have had great luck with Alton Brown's meatball recipe. I don't follow it exactly any longer, but keep the beef/pork/lamb mixture along with the addition of spinach.

From the Recipe Book:

"Shoot From the Hip Pasta Red Sauce"

1 12 oz can Cento tomato paste
2 28 oz cans of Cento crushed tomatoes
1 large or 2 medium yellow onions, fine diced
2 to 3 stalks celery, minced in the FP
2 carrots, minced in the FP
beef or vegetable stock, at least a quart
1 flat of anchovies, minced (just do it)
2 or 3 bay leaves
4 Tbs good olive oil
1/2 Tbs each dried thyme, oregano, and basil...adjust to taste as cooking
2 Tbs of minced garlic
1/2 cup minced flat leaf parsley
1/2 Tbs crushed red pepper, adjust to taste
1 tsp black pepper, adjust to taste
salt , adjusted to taste
Parm cheese rind, or cheese, a 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Red wine, 1/2 to 1 cup
I'm wasting time before a lunch meeting, so I'll whip up a red sauce recipe. Here's something off the top of my pointy little head. Make the meatballs I posted in the Recipe Book. They are good. You can vary the meat type, but the portions are very nice.
Procedure
1 Heat the olive oil and saute' the onion until translucent. Add the celery, carrots, and parm rind, if using. Add the herbs and bay leaves(if using dried) and the Parm cheese rind, if using). Saute a few minutes to toast the herbs. Add the tomato paste, garlic and the anchovies. Go another 5 to 10 minutes on medium, scraping the pot, to get some color on the paste.
2 Add the crushed tomatoes, the wine, and enough stock to make it a soupy consistency. Add cheese if not using the rind. Leave the lid ajar, cut the heat to simmer, and continue for an hour if using browned, ground meat(which you just added). If using meatballs, add now and simmer for 2 to 3 hours. Add a bit more stock if needed, and adjust all seasonings to taste, with the addition of salt. Please taste the damn dish as it simmers...seasoning adjustments will need to be made.
3 Add the parsley during the last 5 to 30 minutes. This sauce formula is pretty damn good.
Source: Otis2

I like to soak bread in milk, then add in onion, egg l, garlic, parm, parsley, salt and pepper. Fold in meat and mix. I prefer poaching meatballs in sauce as opposed to pan frying first. I find it helps retain moisture.

My advice is to keep it simple


A good blend with some fresh breadcrumbs cheese and spices. Also a good sauce

It's really that simple. Mine are always perfect and I always LOL at all these 10-15 ingredient meatballs

Simple is better

I use frank Davis' recipe

add a little ricotta to the meatball

quote:

---

What's your go to recipe for meatballs and red sauce?

---

Whatever you use to season your meatballs, add chicken stock when mixing and forming meatballs. I use ground pork, ground beef and ground veal.

It will keep them very moist.

quote:

---

Meatballs & spaghetti

---

That's backwards to me... just an observation..

quote:

---

big hunks of meat that are boring inside.

---

You might want to try a different recipe if your meatballs are boring.

A quality meatball makes all the difference to the meal.

Love the idea les