Description
Tender homemade beef and lamb meatballs are browned and slowly simmered in a rich, garlicky tomato-basil sauce, then served over spaghetti. Finish with freshly grated Parmesan and basil for a hearty Italian-inspired comfort-food dinner.
Ingredients
½ cup bread crumbs (55 g)
¼ cup chopped parsley (10 g)
½ cup grated Parmesan (40 g)
2 large eggs
3 garlic cloves, minced
1½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef (450 g)
1 pound ground lamb (450 g)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped (155 g)
4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
2 (28-ounce/794 g) cans crushed tomatoes
½ cup water
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup chopped fresh basil
1 (16-ounce/454 g) package spaghetti
Grated Parmesan, for serving, optional
Fresh basil, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Add the bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, eggs, 3 minced garlic cloves, 1½ teaspoons salt, and ¾ teaspoon black pepper to a large bowl and mix. Add the ground beef and ground lamb and gently mix with your hands just until combined.
- Divide the mixture into approximately 18 meatballs, about 2 ounces each. Shape gently without tightly packing the meat.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Working in batches, brown the meatballs on all sides for about 6–8 minutes. Transfer the browned meatballs to a plate.
- Remove excess oil from the pot, leaving about 2 tablespoons. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits. Add the remaining 4 minced garlic cloves and red pepper flakes, if using, and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, water, bay leaf, oregano, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Stir and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Carefully return the meatballs to the sauce. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently for 1 hour, carefully stirring about every 15 minutes. Stir in the chopped basil and remove the bay leaf when finished.
- During the final 15 minutes of simmering, cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Reserve about 1 cup pasta cooking water before draining.
- Toss the drained spaghetti with approximately 2 cups of tomato sauce. Add a splash of reserved pasta water as needed to help the sauce coat the spaghetti.
- Divide the spaghetti among plates and top with meatballs and additional tomato sauce. Serve with grated Parmesan and fresh basil, if desired.
Notes
Avoid overmixing or tightly packing the meatball mixture to keep the meatballs tender.
For all-beef meatballs, replace the ground lamb with an equal amount of ground beef.
For a spicier sauce, increase the red pepper flakes or add extra flakes when serving.
Spaghetti can be replaced with linguine, bucatini, rigatoni, or another favorite pasta.
For extra-herby meatballs, add finely chopped basil or a small amount of dried oregano to the meat mixture.
For cheese-filled meatballs, place a small cube of mozzarella in the center of each meatball and completely enclose it with meat.
Store cooled meatballs and sauce separately from cooked spaghetti in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 days.
Freeze cooled meatballs with the tomato sauce in a freezer-safe container and prepare fresh pasta when ready to serve.
Reheat meatballs and sauce gently in a covered saucepan over medium-low heat, adding a splash of water if the sauce is too thick.
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
- Calories: 790 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 1450 mg
- Fat: 38 g
- Saturated Fat: 13 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 22 g
- Trans Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 73 g
- Fiber: 7 g
- Protein: 40 g
- Cholesterol: 155 mg
