Spaghetti + Meatballs

Ever since we got back from our Lake Como trip on Sunday night, we've been in the midst of a Dolomiti snowstorm! Perfect time for spaghetti and meatballs, so I whipped some up on Tuesday night and thought I'd share my recipe.

To make the meatballs, I combine two or three types of ground meat - I use veal and beef because those are my only options in the store! About 3/4 of a pound of each, depending on how many meatballs you want. I usually cook for three because Ryan tends to eat for two.

Anyway. Then you take about a cup of breadcrumbs, two tablespoons of parsley, half a cup of parmesan, and an egg and mix that all together with the meat (and add some salt and pepper and about half a cup of warm water to keep it moist).

Then take your rings off and dig in! I usually make 2 inch meatballs and this time, I ended up with 25, but froze half of them for meatball subs later in the week - not even Ryan can eat 25 meatballs at once. Then I throw them outside on the deck because our fridge isn't big enough for 25 meatballs, and go have a glass of vino rosso down the street.

When I get back, I cook the meatballs and make the sauce. So - a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a non-stick pan, throw the meatballs in there (maybe in batches if you have tons) and cook away. About 10 minutes does it.

Then I make the sauce. Sometimes I go all out and make sauce from scratch and sometimes I only half do. This time I used a jar of tomato sauce that I noticed had been sitting around and taking up space in the fridge for quite some time. I added some ricotta to make it creamier (and more homemade) and some onion, garlic (sorry, Dad), red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and more parsley because I have to buy a whole bag at the store which usually goes bad within three days unless I put parsley in everything that I cook.

Heat that up and add the meatballs to simmer in it while the spaghetti cooks....

.....maybe add a little more parsley........

....and there you have it! We're calling it "Snowstorm Spaghetti + Meatballs".