Have you heard about drop meatballs with spaghetti? It’s a trendy, and I think smart and quicker, way to make meatballs and spaghetti. Basically, you use a scoop to form meatballs which you then brown in a bit of oil just on one side before adding aromatics and tomatoes to form a sauce.
Since my time for preparing meals gets away from me because of outdoor chores this time of year, like tilling the gardens and boiling up maple sap for syrup, I like the idea of fuss-free meatballs. This updated version uses dried herbs instead of fresh, since here on our little patch of heaven, it’s still too cold for planting most herbs outdoors.
Spaghetti with drop meatballs and tomato sauce
My friend and chef, Giovanna Trimpe (author of Holy Chow and Gluten Free Holy Chow cookbooks) would scold me for using oregano. “Basil only in pasta sauce,” Giovanna says.
Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti (save 1 cup water after pasta cooks for thinning sauce)
Meatballs and sauce
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground beef
2 cups Romano or Parmesan, cheese divided
Couple handfuls parsley, chopped, divided
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
4 large cloves garlic, minced (1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon or so, divided)
1 onion, chopped small
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves or a squeeze of anchovy paste (optional but good)
2 cans, 28 oz each, whole tomatoes, crushed
Salt and pepper
Instructions
Put meat in bowl and smoosh it up.
Add 1 cup cheese, handful of parsley, crumbs, egg, 1 teaspoon garlic, salt and pepper.
Mix gently. Don’t press hard or meatballs will be dense.
Pour oil into large pan over medium heat.
Use small scoop or two spoons to loosely form meatballs and carefully drop in hot oil to brown lightly on one side. Meatballs won’t be done yet.
Then scatter onion and rest of garlic, basil, oregano and bay or anchovy paste, around meatballs. Cook until onion gets soft, stirring carefully if necessary to prevent sticking.
Add tomatoes. Turn heat up a bit, cover pan, and let sauce cook until meatballs are done, about 10 minutes.
Remove lid and let sauce continue to cook, stirring gently if necessary.
Now cook the pasta while sauce continues to cook.
When pasta is done, check sauce. Remove bay and adjust seasonings.
Drain pasta and put back in pot. Spoon about half the sauce, no meatballs, into pasta.
Toss and add some reserved pasta water if you like.
Place pasta in bowls, top with meatballs and as much sauce as you like and sprinkle with cheese.
Tips
Save pasta water
Remove 1 cup of the starchy, flavorful water. Use to thin out sauce if necessary.
Are your bay leaves flavorful?
Tear a couple bay leaves in half and put in a cup. Pour a bit of boiling water over. Let it infuse about a minute. Give it a sniff. If it has no aroma, bay is too old to use.
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