Spaghetti & Meatballs

This recipe was originally featured on Food Network. While you could make your own spaghetti sauce, we opted for store bought. An adventure for another day!

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour Total Time: 1 hr 15 minutes

Yields: 15 2-inch meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 cup dried seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 extra-large egg, beaten
• Vegetable Oil
• Olive Oil
• Approx 40 oz spaghetti sauce. (See Tips & Tricks)
• 1 1/2 lb spaghetti noodles, cooked

Instructions:

1. Place ground meats, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg and water in a large bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. Use an ice cream scoop to help portion the meat mixture. You will have somewhere in the 15-20 range depending on the meatballs’ final size.
2. Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large, 12-inch skillet to a depth of 1/4 inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat turning them carefully with a spatula or fork. It will take about 10 minutes per batch. Don’t crowd the meatballs.
3. Remove the meatballs and place them on a wire rack over a baking sheet with paper towel underneath to catch the excess oil. Discard the oil but don’t clean the pan.
4. Add the meatballs back to the pan and add your spaghetti sauce. Simmer on low heat for about 25 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with noodles and additional Parmesan cheese.

Tips & Tricks:

• Since we went with store-bought sauce, we ended up a bit short on sauce with only one 24-oz jar. If you can get somewhere in the 40-oz range I think it would work out well. Alternatively, use the leftover meatballs for meatball subs which would require less sauce and noodles. Extra sauce could be utilized for other meals too though!