Spaghetti And Meatballs

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups soft bread cubes (torn or cut from plain slices of bread with crust)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese, plus extra for serving
• 1 teaspoon very finely minced garlic
• 1/4 cup very finely minced parsley
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 6 cups tomato sauce, warmed (longer-cooked, very garlicky marinara sauce)
• 1 lb spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons butter

Recipe

• 1 in a large bowl, beat the egg; then blend in the milk.
• 2 add in the bread cubes, stirring to coat them well; let sit for 15 minutes.
• 3 using a fork, mash the bread cubes until they’ve formed a rough paste.
• 4 add in the ground beef to the bowl; working with your hands, incorporate the rough paste into the beef.
• 5 add in cheese, garlic, and parsley; blend in evenly; add salt and pepper to taste.
• 6 using wet hands, form the meat into balls the size of golf balls or a little smaller.
• 7 add olive oil to a large heavy skillet over med-high heat; add in the meatballs to brown them on all sides—don’t crowd them in the pan; you may have brown them in batches.
• 8 transfer meatballs to the saucepan that holds the warmed tomato sauce; bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
• 9 when the meatballs are nearly done, drop the spaghetti into a big pot of boiling salted water.
• 10 cook spaghetti until al dente, about 8-9 minutes.
• 11 drain spaghetti in a colander; then return it to the pasta cooking pot over medium heat.
• 12 ladle in enough sauce to just coat the pasta; stir well.
• 13 add in the butter and stir well.
• 14 keep the pasta in the pot for a total of about 1 minute.
• 15 divide the pasta among six wide, shallow bowls; top each mound of pasta with a few meatballs, then ladle some more sauce over all.
• 16 serve with grated romano cheese on the side.