Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

: For a quick and easy gourmet spaghetti and meatballs sauce, it’s quite alright to start with a jar of Marinara from the grocery store. Start with one that you know has really good flavor and use it as a “base” for the rest of your meal. Whole Foods 365 brand in just about any flavor is really quite good and at $2.99 ($1.99 on sale) per jar you can get a fantastic gourmet flavor without busting your budget. For this recipe I used “hearty vegetable” and layered in my own simple ingredients to achieve a very rich flavored sauce.

My recipe for meatballs calls for ground chuck, which is less expensive ($2.99/lb at Whole Foods for natural meat) than leaner ground meat such as ground sirloin ($5.99/lb). A chef’s trick is to use fattier meat like chuck and round to really pack in the flavor while being easy on the budget. There is only a slight difference in calories and fat after cooking. Opt for meat that is marked “natural” (or organic if you can afford it) to get the best flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

Meatballs:
1 pound ground chuck or ground round
cup dry bread crumbs
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried parsley (or 2 tablespoons fresh chopped)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce:
1 jar 365 brand hearty vegetable marinara sauce
1 onion chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon red cayenne pepper (optional for a spicy sauce)

DIRECTIONS:
To make meatballs: Combine in a bowl ground beef, bread crumbs, milk, egg, garlic, onions, salt, parsley and pepper; mix well. Without packing the meat very tight, roll into 1 inch balls and set aside. 1 pound of meat mixture should make about 8 medium meatballs.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat; add meatballs and cook gently so they stay whole and are lightly browned.

To make the sauce:
In a large pot, sauté onions, celery and garlic until vegetables are soft and onions are clear. Add to this, pepper flakes, cayenne, parsley and basil – cook for about one minute. Add jar of marinara and bring to a simmer stirring occasionally. Gently add meatballs to the sauce and simmer on low another 30 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Serve over your choice of hot fresh pasta and sprinkle with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.