Spaghetti and meatballs

So I haven't progressed to making my own pasta (yet) so this should be titled "Meatballs (to have with your spaghetti) with optional sauce (you can just use stuff from a jar if you choose)" but that's a REALLY long title.

We were so eager to eat I forgot to take a picture. This was Brian's lunch the next day.

A few years back I set out on a mission to make The Best Meatballs EVER. I had some ideas at the beginning: I wanted to make them small not giant and something more then just meat in ball form. But that was it. So I pulled up a bunch of meatball recipes and started testing. A bit from this one. A bit from that one. And after a while I got the hang of it. And I've settled on a recipe that gets raves from my friends. It feels good to hear: "I love your meatballs!" or "You're making meatballs? can I come over for dinner??" So I think I've done it. And here it is in all it's glory: Amy's Meatballs (with optional sauce instructions).

Meatballs:

Combine the following in a large bowl. Get your hands in there (wash them first) and work that egg and dry stuff into that beef.

1-2 lbs of extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
~2/3 cup bread crumbs per pound of beef
1 cup of fresh grated parmasen or romano cheese (must be fresh... none of that dry stuff from a shaker)
1 egg per pound of beef
1-2 cloves of garlic
generous teaspoon of each oregano and basil
a few twists of the pepper and salt mills

If the mixture seems too dry (sometimes the bread crumbs can dry it out) add a splash of milk.

Form the beef mixture into balls, rolling them between your hands to make them firm. I make them just less than an inch in diameter. Bite size. This makes lots! Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (so they don't stick after). They don't spread like cookies but keep them seperated. This stages is referred to as the Meat Cookie stage. Bake for 10 - 15 min at 350F.

Add the balls to finished sauce and let simmer for 20 minutes (at least).

Optional Sauce Hints

So you can take the easy road and get your favorite basic tomato and basil tomato sauce. But I find jarred sauces just not right so I usually start with a good quality basic tomato sauce from an Italian delicatessen or bakery (the kind that comes in a skinny jar) and fine tune it.

Start by sauting 1-2 cloves of garlic in olive oil add a few tablespoons of finely chopped onion (you can set some aside when you make the meatballs for this).

Add a large can of crushed tomatos or a jar or two of that basic tomato sauce.

Season with basil (and oregano if you so choose).

Allow to simmer stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.

If it's too runny you can add some tomato paste.

Give it a few twists of the pepper and salt mills.

Taste it. Aciddy? yeah... add a pinch of brown sugar. Stir well. Taste again. Repeat adding a small amount of sugar. Shouldn't need more then two pinches depending of the volume of sauce and the type of tomatoes and your own taste buds.

And here's my last hint: Make the sauce the day before and allow to cool and sit in the fridge over night and then reheat when you make the meatballs.