Italian Meatballs Spaghetti
In Italy, they call it Spaghetti al ragù di polpettine! It sounds really good, isn’t it? Yes we can also speak Italian here, not only English and French ;). I’m joking of course I have no idea how to speak Italian. I would be quite embarrassed if I had to order food in Italy…!! Anyway, today I want to share this recipe (in English and French ^^) because we just LOVE these Italian meatballs spaghetti! From the youngest to the oldest, everyone at home always finish the plate in no time!
Alba Pezone’s Cucina
This recipe is from a cookbook I truly love: Cucina from Alba Pezone (I can’t find it in English, only in Italian or French, but if you can manage one of these two languages it’s worth to have a look at it). She is a regular guest in a French radio show that I really like, called On Va Déguster. And when I heard her speaking about her cookbook, I knew I had to add it to my little collection! It’s a Italian cookbook (but I’m pretty sure that you understood that already!) full of inspirations, from starters to desserts. Our weekly pizza recipe is from the same cookbook, you will find it here as well soon. This book is one of these cookbook that I love to leaf through. Maybe not the one for the daily cooking but definitely when we have guests at home. Last time I used it to cook the Carnaval Lasagna for Mister’s birthday. And these meatballs are part of the lasagna recipe (with few other meaty and cheesy wonders…These lasagna are really rich AND really good). I hope you will like these meatballs as much as we did :)!!
Meatballs’ passion!
We love meatballs at home, with beef, chicken, tuna, vegetables and even more since our Little one eats like us. It is always, and has always been, a safe bet when it comes to please him at mealtime. He could eat them with his fingers (and that is really cool) and you can really have fun with the filling! And last advantage: I always freeze the extras for later or for a lazy day. And you know that there are always lazy days!
Italian Meatballs Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 400 g spaghetti
Meatballs
- 200 g minced beef (veal in the original recipe but I can't really find it here or not for a reasonable price, so beef is okay as well)
- 100 g sausage meat
- 1 slice of bread, crumbled
- 40 g freshly grated parmesan
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 glove of garlic, grated
- Parsley, finely chopped
- Basil, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
Tomato sauce
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 glass of dry white wine
- 600 g good quality plum tomatoes
- 50 cl vegetable stock
Instructions
- Prepare the meatballs: mix all of the ingredients together and season well with salt and pepper.
- Shape the meatballs nut-size and fry them in a large frying pan with olive oil. They should be golden and cooked on all sides.
- For the tomato sauce, heat a casserole dish and put some olive oil in it. Fry the onion for few minutes. Stir in the white wine. Once it's evaporated add the tomatoes and half of the stock.
- Cook for 30 minutes on a low heat, without a lid. Add slowly the other half of the vegetable stock.
- Add the meatballs and cook for 10 more minutes.
- While the meatballs are cooking, cook the pasta in boiling water.
- Add the spaghetti to the tomato sauce and gently mix everything, be careful not to damage the meatballs.
- Serve with parmesan and buon appetito ;)!
Go make these Italian meatballs spaghetti! Don’t forget to double the recipe and to freeze the extra ones. Last time I froze them after cooking, and later on when needed, I took them out of the freezer 1 hour before cooking and just added them to the sauce for about twenty minutes. It was perfect!
Treat yourself to a meal and come back here to tell me what you think!
(It’s going to become a habit these photos with these cute little hands. I love it :)!)
