Classic Recipe 7/52: Spaghetti and Meatballs

How much more basic can you get than spaghetti and meatballs?  I love food with red sauce on it and I love meatballs and I love pasta.  You just can't go wrong.  This is my basic meatball/sauce recipe which is a combination of how my mom taught me to make it and other recipes I have seen and/or tried along the way.

For the meatballs: 1 lb ground beef, one lb pork sausage (I use the farmland's best breakfast sausage-cheap and tasty and comes in 1-lb rolls so I always have a handful of them in my freezer).  Bread crumbs, parmesan cheese (the finely grated kind), oregano, parsley, italian seasoning, pepper.  2 eggs.

For the sauce: 1 jar spaghetti sauce, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 onion, 1 pepper, 1 can mushrooms (or some fresh), parmesan + all the seasonings you used in the meatballs.

Start the meatballs first.  Preheat the oven to about 350.  Put your meat into a mixing bowl and add in your eggs, bread crumbs (maybe 1/2 a cup or so) and parmesan (about 1/4 cup).  For the seasonings you are maybe using 1 tsp or 2 of each.  However you like your meat seasoned.  It's one of those things where I just never have measured and probably never will.  use your hands to mix everything together.  if the mix seems to moist add some more breadcrumbs or parm.  Too dry add a little water.  Use a cookie sheet and spray with Pam.  Form the meat into balls.  I can usually get 2 dozen meatballs out of this mix which is the perfect amount to fit on my pan.  Put them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, put some water on to boil for the spaghetti and get your sauce heated up.  You want to put the jar of spaghetti sauce into a pot and then add the diced tomatoes (don't drain).  Add some extra seasonings, chop your onion/pepper and add those in.  I have also been known to add zucchini, yellow squash, or mushrooms to my sauce.  Also if you have other veggies you need to get rid of like carrots and celery, you can chop or shred them so they are too small to notice and add them to the sauce.  Sometimes you have to sneak extra veggies in where you can!!  When the meatballs are done take them out of the oven and add to the sauce.  I usually have it timed so that when the meatballs come out I can throw my garlic bread in and everything will be ready at the same time.

When your pasta is done boiling, drain it but don't add it to the sauce right away.  Toss the pasta with some shredded parmesan cheese-this helps the sauce stick to the noodles, a trick I learned from Giada on food network-then add to the sauce, toss till coated, and serve.  My garlic bread is always a cheat, I get a loaf of it from the bakery at walmart and freeze it.  Then whenever we want garlic bread I take out however many slices and bake them.  One loaf lasts us about 3 meals which is way better than the garlic bread that is in the frozen section.