Spaghetti and Meatballs

Dear Readers,

Spaghetti and meatballs is one of my favorite meals. Many people associate this dish as comfort food. However, I have found ways to lighten this dish by using fresh and organic ingredients. There are two very important ingredients you will need for this dish. The first is good quality beef, pork, and veal ground meat. You are looking for moist meatballs. I like 1/3lb of each meat. The combination of the three meats bring great flavor and texture. The second important ingredient is organic canned chunky tomatoes for the sauce. I use the brand Muir Glen which brings a fresh flavor to the sauce. If you sample a spoonful of these tomatoes out of the can, they taste as if they are right off the vine.

Recipe for tomato sauce:

Ingredients:

3 cloves fresh garlic (minced)

1/4 cup yellow onion (diced)

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 fresh basil leaves (chopped)

2 cans Muir Glen organic chunky tomatoes (28oz. per can)

1 can Muir Glen organic tomato paste

salt to taste

In a saucepan add the olive oil, garlic, and onions and cook over medium low heat. Make sure the ingredients are translucent (usually 8 mins) until you add the 2 cans of tomatoes and 1 can of tomato paste. Keep stirring this sauce for about 15 minutes on a low simmer. Add salt to taste. After the sauce has cooked add the basil and stir for an additional 5 minutes. Put the sauce aside and let it rest.

Recipe for meatballs:

Ingredients:

2 slices whole wheat sandwich bread

3/4 cup water

1/3 pound ground veal

1/3 pound ground beef

1/3 pound ground pork

1/2 cup grated cheese ( I prefer Locatelli pecorino romano)

1 egg

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup yellow onion (chopped)

2 garlic cloves (diced)

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley (chopped)

1 teaspoon salt

1 box pasta (I prefer Dreamfields pasta)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Remove the crusts from bread, place in a bowl and pour the water over. Let this soak for 10 minutes. After squeeze out the water from the bread and place in a large bowl. Discard water. To this bowl you also want to add the ground meats, grated cheese, egg, parsley, and salt. Set this side. In a saucepan, add the olive oil, garlic, and onion. Cook until the ingredients are translucent and then add them to the large bowl that has the ground meat. With your hands combine all the ingredients making sure everything is well incorporated.

Roll your meatballs and place them on a baking dish. Each meatball should be slightly larger than a golf ball. Place your dish in the oven and cook for 25 minutes. When the meatballs are cooked place them in the tomato sauce. Cook the sauce for an additional 10 minutes on low. Add fresh basil to pasta and meatballs.

This recipe serves 4