Spaghetti & Meatballs
A delicious tomato-basil based pasta sauce with juicy meatballs that are bursting with flavour.
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Servings: 4
Equipment
- 1 medium mixing bowl
- 1 large skillet or saucepan
- 1 medium saucepan
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 500 grams beef mince or 50/50 beef and pork mince mix
- 1 medium onion finely grated
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese grated, extra for garnishing
- ⅓ cup bread crumbs regular or panko bread crumbs
- 3 tbsp Italian parsley finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves finely diced, or 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp olive oil or ghee
Pasta
- 250 grams spaghetti
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 large carrot finely grated, or 2 tsp sugar
- 50 grams tomato paste
- 2 garlic cloves finely grated
- 800 grams crushed tomatoes canned
- 800 grams water
- ⅓ cup red wine cabernet, shiraz etc. or 2 tbsp red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup fresh basil roughly chopped, extra for garnishing
- Drizzle of chili oil option, for garnishing
Instructions
Meatballs
- Add the meatball ingredients to a medium bowl, excluding the olive oil. Mix until combined, using a wooden spoon or your hands. Do not overmix otherwise the meatballs will become too dense once cooked. Shape into 20 equals sized balls, about 4 tbsp per ball.
- Bring a large skillet or saucepan to a medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and evenly spread the meatballs in the pan, do not overcrowd. Rather cook in batches in needed. Sear the meatballs until brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Once browned, remove from the skillet and set aside. Note: the goal here is to brown the exterior of the meatballs but to not to cook them all the way through. They'll have a second chance to cook all the way through prior to serving.
Pasta
- In the same skillet, add the diced onion and sauté on a medium heat until golden brown in colour. Once browned, add the grated carrot, tomato paste and garlic. Sauté for 5minutes or until the mixture starts to brown and develop colour.
- Add the canned tomatoes, water, wine, bay leaves and salt. Stir and bring to a light simmer. Cover and allow to simmer on a low-medium heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Just before the sauce is ready, prepare the pasta as per the packet instruction or until al dente. Note: I prefer pasta that still has a bite to it as it'll continue cooking once added to the sauce. Also, keep 1 cup of pasta water aside if you'd like to add more liquid to the sauce.
- Once the sauce has simmered for approx. 1 hour, remove the lid and allow any unnecessary liquid evaporate on a low-medium heat. Remove the bay leaves. Add the chopped basil and meatballs and stir gently. Remove from the heat and add the drained pasta and mix until combined, adding a splash of pasta water if the sauce is thicker than you'd prefer.
- Garnish with grated parmesan, basil and a drizzle of chili oil. Serve immediately.