Ain't cho mama's spaghetti...

I have an amazing friend who shares many recipes with me. I love having her around for so many reasons-especially to talk about food with her. She shared this one with me.

I.love.this.recipe.

But I also love to often spend a good 2 hours on meal prep ...so this is right up my alley. I hope it's up yours too, because you won't regret trying it...

This meal has several parts to it. I recommend reading the recipe first so you get an idea what this baby is all about.

{Picture also borrowed from How to be a Domestic Goddess}

Spaghetti and Meatballs

from Katherine Fields {How to be a Domestic Goddess}

Sauce

• 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes in juice, drained, juice reserved, tomatoes finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 medium onions, peeled, halved through root end
• 1/2 teaspoon (or more) salt
• fresh herbs (rosemary, basil, oregano), optional
  

Meatballs

• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French or country-style bread
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 8 ounces ground beef (15% fat)
• 8 ounces ground pork
• 1 cup finely ground (not grated) Parmesan cheese-from the hard triangle wedges in the deli section of store
• 1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 pound spaghetti
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)

Preparation

Sauce

**Combine tomatoes with juice, butter, onions, and salt in large wide pot. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard onions. Using an immersion blender, or by placing the sauce in a blender, break up any large pieces of tomato (texture should be even but not completely smooth). Season sauce with more salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add fresh herbs if desired. Remove from heat. (You can let yours simmer until you are ready to eat, especially since you cook the meatballs in the sauce.)

Meatballs

**Combine breadcrumbs and milk in small bowl; stir until breadcrumbs are evenly moistened. Let stand 10 minutes.

**Place beef and pork in large bowl and break up into small chunks. Add 1 cup ground Parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper.

**Whisk eggs to blend in small bowl; whisk in garlic. Add to meat mixture.

**Using hands, squeeze milk from breadcrumbs, reserving milk. Add breadcrumbs to meat mixture. Using hands, quickly and gently mix meat mixture just until all ingredients are evenly combined (do not overmix). Chill mixture at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.

**Moisten hands with some of reserved milk from breadcrumbs, then roll meat mixture between palms into golf-ball-size balls, occasionally moistening hands with milk as needed and arranging meatballs in single layer in sauce in pot. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until meatballs are cooked through, 20-30 minutes.
These can be made 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm before continuing.

**Cook spaghetti in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain.

**Using slotted spoon, transfer meatballs to platter. I like to serve the noodles, meatballs, and sauce in separate dishes, because I hate when the sauce is absorbed into the noodles upon serving it together. But you do what you want. Place noodles on plate, top with sauce, then meatballs, then more freshly ground Parmesan! Eat slowly, with small bites...the flavor is so amazing you don't want to risk missing it by eating it too fast...mmm. Not that you could miss it.
Notes-
If you want herbs in the sauce, and don't have fresh, you can use the dried varieties. This is a fun meal to serve in the summer when my garden is loaded with fresh herbs. I miss the fresh herb months...
If you don't have fresh breadcrumbs that the meatball recipe calls for, leave some homemade bread out a few nights before, then put it in a food processor or blender on the day of your meal prep-this recipe would not be the same without the coarse-ness of the fresh breadcrumbs. And these meatballs are out of this world!