Spaghetti and Meatballs
Serves 8 Time 1 hour Difficulty 2/5 Ingredients 23 Steps 10
Most food historians agree that the union of spaghetti with meatballs is an American culinary invention with Italian roots. In the vast majority of cases, Old World-Italian cuisine calls for mixing heavy meat sauces with fettuccine and tagliatelle but not spaghetti.
Ingredients
Pasta
- 3 tbsp salt
- 1 ½ gallons (5.76 liters) water
- 1 pound (454 g) dry spaghetti
Meatballs
- 2 pounds (907 g) ground chuck
- 2 pounds (907 g) ground pork shoulder
- 12 oz (340 g) seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 cup (240 ml) grated Parmesan cheese or Romano cheese
- ¾ cup (180 ml) fresh parsley, minced
- 4 eggs
- 1 ½ tbsp finely-minced garlic
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- Olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves
Sauce
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup (240 ml) beef stock
- 28 oz (794 g) crushed tomatoes
- 1 handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 10 leaves fresh basil, torn or thinly sliced
Steps
- Put 1½ gallons water and 3 tablespoons salt in largest pot. Place over high heat.
- Combine ground meat, bread crumbs, grated cheese, minced parsley and lightly beaten eggs, adding eggs one at a time while stirring. Sprinkle with minced garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil and seasonings. Mix well.
- Form meatballs with ice cream scoop or hands, pressing lightly, only enough to hold together; overcompressed meatballs are tough and dry.
- Heat olive oil in heavy skillet over medium low heat. Add whole garlic cloves. Turn to color on all sides. When lightly browned, press into oil. Remove as they brown.
- When oil is hot, add meatballs, leaving about 1½ inches between them. Turn often with spatula or large spoon to prevent sticking. Keep about ½ inch oil in pan. Any good quality Italian olive oil works.
- When meatballs are well browned on all sides, remove. Drain on paper towels. Cook remaining batches.
- Add pasta to boiling water. Cook until al dente, about 12 minutes.
- Add pepper flakes, garlic and finely chopped onion to meatball oil. Sauté 5–7 minutes until onion is soft. Add beef stock, crushed tomatoes and herbs. Bring to simmer. Cook about 10 minutes.
- Toss hot, drained pasta with a few ladles of sauce. Turn meatballs in remaining sauce.
- Place pasta on plates. Top with meatballs, sauce and extra grated cheese.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Spaghetti and Meatballs” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-19, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. SpaghettiandMeatballs.jpg by Shot_by_Cam, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.