Believe it or not, I’ve been passionate about baking and cooking for sixty years. Classic spaghetti and meatballs has always been one of my favorite main courses. A few years back, I discovered a recipe featuring meatballs that are baked in the oven rather than cooked in a skillet. Let me tell you, they were so delicious and tender that I’ve modified all my meatball recipes to use this method.
Spaghetti and Meatballs
First, make the spaghetti sauce.
Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 Onion – chopped
- 2 Garlic cloves – minced
- 1Tablespoon Olive oil
- 2-1/4 teaspoons Parsley flakes
- 2 teaspoons Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Basil
- Pinch of Pepper flakes
- 14.5 ounce can diced Tomatoes
- 14.5 ounce can Tomato sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato paste
- Pinch of Baking soda
Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a 2-quart saucepan. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent. Add the minced garlic and heat just until you smell it. Stir in and heat the parsley, salt, oregano, basil, and pepper flakes. Then, pour in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste, and stir to combine. Add the sugar, and a pinch of baking soda to cut acidity.
Bring this to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered while you make the meatballs.
Meatballs
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 clove garlic – minced
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley – chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
Pasta
Be Social
recipe
Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 Onion - chopped
- 2 Garlic cloves - minced
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 2-1/4 teaspoons Parsley flakes
- 2 teaspoons Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Basil
- Pinch of Pepper flakes
- 14.5 ounce can diced Tomatoes
- 14.5 ounce can Tomato sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato paste
- Pinch of Baking soda
- Meatballs
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 clove garlic – minced
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley – chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound Thin Spaghetti
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a 2-quart saucepan. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent. Add the minced garlic and heat just until you smell it. Stir in and heat the parsley, salt, sugar, oregano, basil, and pepper flakes. Then, pour in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste, and stir to combine. Add a pinch of baking soda to cut acidity.
Bring this to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered while you make the meatballs.
Meatballs
Place the ground beef, Panko breadcrumbs, garlic, cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, and egg in a medium bowl. Mix well, but don’t overwork.
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Shape the meat mixture into twenty-four 1-1/4 - inch balls and place on a tin foil-lined baking sheet. (Easy clean up!) My sheet pan is 15.5 x 10 inches. You can find a similar baking sheet ◄ here on Amazon.
Place the baking sheet with the meatballs in the preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes. If you make fewer and larger meatballs, you need to adjust the baking time.
Pasta
Heat the water for the pasta while the meatballs bake. I cook thin spaghetti to serve with this recipe. It takes 6 minutes to cook al dente. While the spaghetti cooks, transfer the meatballs to the saucepan with the spaghetti sauce.
