A classic Italian meatball spaghetti sauce is a staple in every household. This is by far the best meatball spaghetti that I’ve had. This is the faster and simpler version of the meatball recipe from my Italian mother-in-law who makes different variations of meat sauce depending on what kind of meat she has, you can use minced beef, pork, or veal, or even better use a mix of the three.
Any time you have some kind of canned tomatoes, or crushed tomatoes from a bottle, it is really important to buy the best quality of Italian tomatoes. This is sometimes labelled San Marzano tomatoes, or simply crushed Italian tomatoes. These two options are second best, first place would be the Italian tomatoes from San Marzano, but it comes at double the cost.
This is a quick and easy sauce so it is only cooked for a maximum of 20 minutes after the meatballs are put back in, then the heat is turned off and it will continue to cook while on the burner. If you have a good quality bottle or can of tomatoes then the sauce will not taste acidic even when cooked for such little time.
Ingredients
Meatball
- 500 g minced pork (or minced beef)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs Italian
- 3 eggs
- 2 clove garlic
- 1 Tbsp parsley fresh
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Sauce
- 680 ml crushed tomatoes Italian
- 1/4 cup onion
- 10 leaves basil fresh
- 200 ml water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Make the meatballs
- Start by making the meatballs. In a large bowl, put all the ingredients for the meatballs and using your hands mix well. Set aside about 175g of the meat.
- Form the meatballs with your hands, about 2 inch size. The meatballs should be sticky enough to form a smooth ball, if not add a tablespoon of water or milk.
- In a large pan, add the olive oil and heat on medium-high heat. Place the meatballs in the pan and sear on all sides, without cooking completely. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Make the sauce
- In the same pan, put the diced onions in the same oil from the meat. Cook until translucent, then add the 175g of meat and cook breaking into small pieces with a spoon. Pour the crushed tomatoes, add about 200 ml of water into the bottle shake, and add to the pan. Gently place the meatballs into the tomato sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer with the cover for about 20 minutes.
- Close the heat after 20 minutes and taste the sauce. Add the basil, sugar, salt and pepper. depending on the brand of tomatoes you might need to add more sugar or salt. Enjoy with your favorite pasta, Bon Appétit!