Spaghetti & Meatballs

I can never watch the Disney movie  Lady and the Tramp without wanting to eat spaghetti and meatballs.  When my son was 5, there was one evening when just the two of us were home, so together we made homemade spaghetti and meatballs and watched this movie.  He still talks about that night.
I used a recipe from a Cook's cookbook for meatballs and they were so flavorful and tender I felt like I was eating a gourmet pasta dish.  I have tried to make them several times since, using the same recipe, and they have never turned out that good again.  So I gave up on the recipe and started experimenting on my own.  What I have ended up with is a consistently flavor packed, tender, gluten free meatball that our whole family loves.  It does take a little time, so I never make this when I'm in a hurry but what a treat!  These meatballs could be used in any dish that calls for meatballs, not just spaghetti sauce.  This is a great recipe for getting the kids involved too.  Getting your hands in the meat and rolling up the balls can be great fun for them.

I used 2 slices of Rudi's Multi-Grain gluten free bread to make the bread crumbs.  I keep it in the freezer so I toasted it a bit first to soften the slices.  Any type of bread will do for this recipe, so it doesn't have to be gluten free.  The bread crumbs are what keep the meatballs from being dense hard meat pellets.  Too much and they are mushy, not enough and the meatballs are so dense they are really hard to eat.

Meatballs

1 lb ground beef
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (not dried)
1 beaten egg
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp Kosher salt

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly.  Form into balls of whatever size you want.  Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a heavy frying pan over medium high heat.  Cook meatballs, turning often, until browned.  At this point you can put the pan in the oven at 350 degrees and cook the meatballs until they are completely cooked all the way through, or you can put them in your pasta sauce and simmer for half an hour until they are cooked through.  This makes about twenty 1 1/2" diameter meatballs.  I freeze half and put half in the sauce below.

 

I used to make my own spaghetti sauce from scratch in large batches and freeze it, but I have found a Tomato Basil Marinara sauce from Trader Joe's that was just as good, so now I use that.  It is so much more convenient.  As long as you add in onion, garlic, spices and meat and simmer your sauce for at least half an hour (an hour is really optimal simmering time) even a cheaper canned spaghetti sauce like Hunt's comes out tasting gourmet.  I have received many compliments on my spaghetti when I made it this way with just using Hunts.  Especially if you saute some mushrooms in a little butter and add them to the sauce just before serving.

If you are making this sauce with the meatballs, you can skip adding the extra meat and just simmer the meatballs in the sauce, but still add the onion, garlic and seasoning.  It really does make a difference.  Also, the meat flavor from the meatballs infuses the sauce as it simmers and makes the sauce taste much richer.

Spaghetti Sauce

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup diced yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 lb spicy Italian sausage, removed from casing and crumbled
1/2 lb ground beef
26 oz jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

In a large pot, over medium high heat, saute onion until softened, but not browned. Add garlic, beef and sausage.  Cook, stirring frequently, until meat is cooked through.  Add Italian seasonings and sauce.  Add the red pepper flakes if you like some kick in your sauce.  If you are using meatballs, add them at this point.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 30 minutes and up to one hour.  Serve over pasta noodles of your choice.

A word (or two) about gluten free pasta

We have found that not all gf pastas are created equal.  Some are quite delicious and taste just as good as wheat pasta, while others are downright nasty!  For some reason, a good spaghetti seems to be especially hard to come by. We have found one brand, bionaturae, that is super close to being just like the real deal, but it is very expensive.  I like to boil water in a tea kettle while the pasta is cooking and I use that water to rinse away the extra starch after I drain the pasta and that makes it a lot better.  Tinkyada makes great lasagne noodles that I actually like better than wheat noodles.  They are a little bit lighter and every bit as delicious.  The other varieties of pasta Tinkyada makes are also quite good, although leftovers get tough the next day.  This seems to be true with any brand of gf pasta.  We found this out the hard way with leftover pasta salad.