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Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe photo by Taste of Home

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This authentic Italian recipe was given to me by my cousin's wife, who is from Italy. It's so hearty and satisfying, everyone's eyes light up when I tell my family that we're having this for supper! —Etta Winter, Pavillion, New York

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Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

Prep: 30 min. Cook: 1-1/2 hours

Yield: 6 Servings

30 90 120

Ingredients

2 cans (28 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (12 ounces) tomato paste
1-1/2 cups water, divided
3 tablespoons grated onion
1 tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1-1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon minced garlic, divided
3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
6 slices day-old bread, torn into pieces
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 pound ground beef
Hot cooked spaghetti
Additional Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions

In a Dutch oven, combine the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 cup water, onion, sugar, oregano, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, garlic and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1-1/4 hours.
Meanwhile, soak bread in remaining water. Squeeze out excess moisture. In a large bowl, combine the bread, eggs, Parmesan cheese, parsley and remaining salt, garlic and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into thirty-six 1-1/2-in. meatballs.
Place meatballs on a rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes or until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to spaghetti sauce. Simmer, uncovered, until heated through, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaf. Serve with spaghetti with additional Parmesan if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Facts 1-2/3 cups (calculated without spaghetti and additional cheese) equals 373 calories, 13 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 123 mg cholesterol, 1,201 mg sodium, 39 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 26 g protein.

Originally published as Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs in Country Ground Beef , p70

Full-Bodied Red Wine

Enjoy this recipe with a full-bodied red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah.

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Reviews for Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs

Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs

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Reviewed on Feb. 07, 2011 by tnewell

Delicious & easy! I only added 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper to the sauce for some heat!

Reviewed on Nov. 03, 2009 by habershamway

DELICIOUS!!! EASY RECIPE--A REAL "KEEPER!"

The next time I make this recipe, I will use the ground beef to make a "meat" sauce versus meatballs since we prefer meat sauce over meatballs..

Reviewed on Oct. 20, 2009 by book-lady

I am from an Italian family and this is a great authentic recipe. The only thing different that we do is to omit the sugar and put in a whole carrot. The carrot lends a bit of sweetness and supposedly neutralizes some of the acid from the tomatoes. Discard carrot before serving.

Reviewed on Oct. 16, 2009 by 123Lon

One plate of this is over half the daily recommended allowance of sodium. Leave out the 2 1/2 tsp salt, use either low sodium or no sodium canned tomatoes, paste and cheese. There's enough sodium in the sausage and spices to make this a tasty dish without all the additional sodium.

Lag

Reviewed on Oct. 15, 2009 by KarenKayMertes

I've made this same recipe for years and the only difference is that I soak my bread in milk instead of water. Best the second day!