Spaghetti & Meatballs

On cold, rainy February days like this I long to be home in my kitchen.  I want to be chopping, dicing, simmering and tasting.  I want my kitchen to smell of garlic and tomatoes and basil and oregano.   But in the alternative, I'll post my recipe and some pictures and you can try really hard to imagine the smell. 

Spaghetti and Meatballs a'la Lolly

Ingredients for Meatballs:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
1 pound ground veal (or pork)
½ cup Italian style bread crumbs
4 - 5 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs - lightly beaten
1 small yellow onion, minced
4 ½ Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
4 ½ Tablespoons grated Romano cheese
3 - 4 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley
3 - 4 Tablespoons minced fresh basil
Salt and pepper - to taste
Olive oil

Combine all ingredients and loosely shape into 1 ½ inch balls. Heat olive oil in large skillet and brown one meatball and when cooked through, taste. This is where you can adjust the seasonings if you want a little more or a little less of one particular flavor. Then continue browning meatballs in 3 or 4 batches. You don’t want them too close together or they won’t get a beautiful brown, they’ll be a steamed blah brown. Nobody wants a steamed blah meatball.

Note: These can be made ahead, cooled and frozen in resealable plastic bags, then added to sauce and heated.

Ingredients for Sauce:
2 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1 10 oz. can tomato puree
1 14.5 oz. can petite-diced tomatoes
1 6 oz. tomato paste seasoned with basil, garlic and oregano
Fennel seeds – crush them using a rolling pin
Fresh Oregano and Basil leaves, chopped (adjust to your taste level)
Red pepper flakes (1/4 – 1/2 t.)
1 – 2 T. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
8 oz. sliced mushrooms

Heat all the canned tomatoes together until boiling in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add crushed fennel seeds and oregano, basil and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to simmer and stir occasionally.

Heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion, pepper and mushrooms and cook until softened. Add to the sauce which by now should be simmering away happily in your favorite Dutch oven. Sometimes, according to my mood, I may leave out the onions, peppers and mushrooms and just go with a more simple sauce but that doesn't happen often.

Add meatballs and turn heat to low and let simmer for several hours. Adjust seasonings and add additional salt/pepper if needed. The longer you cook, the better it’s going to taste. Plus, as always, there’s that lovely smell that floats all through your kitchen and into every part of the house.

Serve over spaghetti (cooked according to package directions). Top with grated Parmesan/Romano cheese and freshly chopped parsley. Oh, and serve with lots of yummy bread.