There are few meals I love more than Spaghetti and Meatballs. You know what I’m talking about. Good Italian pasta, cooked al dente, bathed in a wonderful gravy and topped of with moist, flavorful, beefy meatballs. Totally a slice of heaven! Simple, soul satisfying food. For some reason, I’ve had a hard time finding a great version of this at a restaurant. Maybe they aren’t the current chic thing for restaurants to be serving, I don’t know. When I tried this recipe for meatballs, I feel instantly, head over heels in love. These babies were just what I was looking for. I served them with Sunday Gravy and the whole family was smitten. Not only does the flavor totally rock, they are NOT fried. I love this for two obvious reasons. One, there’s not a whole lot of splattered, greasy mess to clean up, and two, there’s not a lot of extra, and unnecessary, fat added to them. I hope you give these gems a try. Let me know what you think!
Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons - Olive Oil
- 1 1/2 - Onions, Finely Diced
- 6 - Garlic Clove, Minced
- 1/2 Tablespoon - Dried Oregano
- Pinch - Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 4 Slices - Hearty White Sandwich Bread, Torn into Small Pieces
- 3/4 Cup - Whole Milk
- 1/2 Pound - Sweet Italian Sausage, Casing Removed
- 1 Cup - Parmesan Cheese, Freshly Grated
- 2 - Eggs, Large, Lightly Beaten
- 4 - Cloves, Garlic, Minced
- 1 1/2 Teaspoon - Salt
- 2 1/2 Pounds - Ground Beef, 80/20
- - Sunday Gravy or Sauce of Your Choice
- 1 Pound - Pasta, Cooked
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees and adjust oven racks to upper-middle position.
- Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook onions until very soft, 10-15 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add milk and bread and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Mash. Add onion mixture and combine. Add remaining ingredients except beef and knead to combine. Add beef and knead until ingredients are well combined.
- Form mixture into 2 1/2 inch meatballs ( you should have approximately 16 meatballs ), place on rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Transfer meatballs to pot of sauce and simmer for 30 minutes on very low heat so that you do not have to stir pot. Serve over cooked pasta!
Hey, I'm Kathleen. Thanks for stopping by my site, hope you find something you like and come back for seconds!
Ahhh, those look fabulous!! And I just want to say, I know how hard it is to photograph spaghetti and make it look good. It is not easy!! Great job!!
great post, beautiful pix! I'm drooling here.
That looks SUPERB.
I have yet to find a restaurant with meatballs that I like – even at Italian restaurants they taste frozen. These are absolutely mouth-watering! Homemade are always better.
I love how you arranged the first picture. Makes you want to grab a fork and just dig in to that delicious pile of pasta and meatballs.
Your meatballs look incredible, and I love your gravy! I made some turkey meatballs a while back that were amazing also – if you're interested, check them out here:
http://www.dailychef.com/blog/?p=1367
I just learned recently that Italians eat meatballs (if they eat them at all, most don't, it depends on the region) on the side on a separate plate. It seams to be more of an Italian immigrant dish to please Americans that were used to eat pasta and meat together on one plate.
But who cares, they are yummy and tasty. Yours look great.
Those meatballs look fabulous. I am in serious want of that bowl. The fact that you used sausage instead of ground meat must add another dimension of flavor! Yum!
Yum! Yum! Yum! This is my favorite meal and I also bake the meatballs…great food and a wonderful photo!
so classic a dish… and just so amazingly delish every time! i could definitely go for a huge serving right now!
The picture looks fantastic! I LOVE meatballs and have been looking for different meatball recipe, thanks!
The sauce (Sunday gravy) look luscious and the meatballs would definitely be my favorite part.
I think meatballs are one of the best comfort foods out there. Looks delish!
Looks so delicious. Thanks for posting.
It looks absolutely delicious, great photos ?
That's comfort in a bowl! I, also, like that the meatballs aren't fried–genius!
yummy. amazing photos:)
I love love meatballs. Great photos also!
Both my husband and I are always disappointed when trying spaghetti and meatballs at a restaurant. I don't know why it is so hard for restaurants to get it right.
These meatballs definitely look right! I love that they are a mixture of sweet Italian sausage and beef. They look killer.
i Heart Spaghetti and Meatballs…my sister and i love cooking as well as eating..:) yummmmm!!!and homemade meatballs are the best!!
Nice balls! I've had a hankerin' for spaghetti and meatballs for about a week now- I think I'll get rid of it tonight- Thanks for sharing!
Looks delicious! Great Photo too ! you can never ever get tired of Spaghetti and meatballs
My sister just made meatballs too and please see how her baby daughter Molly react to it! Precious!!
http://cookng.blogspot.com/
CookNg Sisters
This looks soo good! Meatballs sure do make the spaghetti don't they;)
Always a fan of unfried meatballs.
How did you know I was thinking about a simi-large plate of spaghetti and meatballs. It seems just the day for it!
Those meatballs look amazing! You're making me hungry!
Spaghetti and meatballs is pretty much perfect comfort food. I want to make some now!
Don't you just love, classic home cooking like this? I just love pasta with meat ball, in fact, I never met anybody who will say no to it. Yours look meltingly good!
This looks absolutely amazing! We're big fans of the meatball around here. I make big batches and freeze them.
Your Sunday gravy is on my list to make!
Yum! As a matter of fact I posted the same kind of recipe on my cooking blog last week. Once I made my own meatballs I can never go back…
And yours look absolutely scrumptious!
I want to dig in and devour that whole bowl. Your spaghetti and meatballs look so good!
I have been craving spaghetti and meatballs. great recipe
sweetlife
These sound delicious, and the pictures are amazing. It is late at night and I am wishing I had them right now!
You are so right, there are few things as comforting as a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. I love that this recipe make enough sauce to keep the pasta drenched in all the tomatoey goodness!!
Hi Kathleen, Thanks for stopping by I'm playing catch up and this recipe is one I'm going to try. Thanks for sharing.
~ ~Ahrisha~ ~
Hello; few days ago I saw one chef preparing this dish on French Cuisine tv. I like, meatballs a lot in various versions – Indian, Italian, Polish, Scandinavian and son on. Homemade, once you have a good recipe, usually will be better than in restaurant…
Two things here: Beautiful, and YUM!
Gorgeous! Congrats on Top 9 GREG
Yes, congrats! Love me some pasta and meatballs! One weakness of mine that can be dangerous, but I take the risk once a week
I like a good meatball spaghetti anytime!
This is the way I like my meatballs.
Mimi
oh my gosh, i love a good meatball
yum…
Those meatballs look so good!
I made these tonight and they were fabulous! I am a little confused about the garlic though. Do use a total of 10 cloves? Some cooked with the onions and then add more with the meat? Thanks for the great recipe! My whole family loved it!
These look amazing! Is there anything better than Italian food and good delicious carbs =)? I’m going to have to pin and try this, thanks Kathleen!