Spaghetti with Meatballs

As I have written before, my mom was famous for saying, "We could make this!" after trying a restaurant dish that she admired.  Usually her attempts were still very good, albeit off, from the original.  I, though, am far less adventurous although I am getting better, making attempts at crazy things such as you know, salad recreations or copying a cheese plate from a restaurant, but clearly still have a long way to go to get to my mom's optimistic and adventurous approach.

So I bet after that you are now waiting for me to debut this adventurous, optimistic side that I supposedly should have learned from my mother?  Nope.  I'm not there yet, besides the aforementioned territories of salads and cheese plates.  However, I am good at taking a recipe from a magazine that in it recreates a fabulous dish from one of my favorite restaurants.  That I am good at.

Food & Wine debuted an article with the famed recipe from "Meatball Monday's" at A16, where this recipe comes from.  I had the great pleasure of meeting A16's wine director/owner, Shelley Lindgren, when I took a cooking class in San Francisco titled "Food and Wine of California" at the adorable cooking school, Tante Marie.  I was just (sob) about to leave San Francisco and wanted to absorb all I could.  She led the wine section of the class and was delightful.  She is the coauthor of their beautiful cookbook, which after taking the class and reading the Food & Wine Article, I absolutely had to have the cookbook.  (Well that one and about 50 others, but trust me, it's a good one.)  So I then had two copies of the recipe, was leaving San Francisco and could no longer go to Meatball Mondays.  It was time to make the meatballs.

My original theory about meatballs was, "Meatballs, how good can they be?"  It's just a meatball and there are good ones, but not truly 'great' ones although my husband vehemently disagrees, even pre-A16 meatballs.  My point of view was of course before I tried these.  I quickly then became a convert to my husbands perspective.  These are so much more flavorful than any other meatball.  And so light and moist!  After making them several times, I know the secret is the ricotta cheese and fresh breadcrumbs.  My mom always made meatballs with ground beef, but this also has prosciutto and ground pork, which I think adds a lot of flavor.  And there is no complicated sauce to cloud the flavor of the meatballs, just delicious San Marzanos, which if you haven't yet tried, after one taste you will for sure be a convert from regular old canned tomatoes.  This isn't your sloppy spaghetti meatballs for kids.  This is entertaining fare.  Once you try these, you'll be a convert too.

 So, one restaurant dish recreated... check!  Yes, I had the recipe, but I did make a couple of substitutions, that puts me in the adventurous category, right?

Trish's Tips:  This recipe calls for freshly made breadcrumbs.  Every time I buy a baguette I end up not eating it all and it turns rock hard and ends up getting thrown out.  My new strategy is to freeze the leftover baguette then just pull it out of the freezer 30 minutes or so before I need to make breadcrumbs so that it can defrost.  Just cut into cubes and put in your food processor.  These meatballs freeze great and can be made in advance.  To do so, roast the meatballs and freeze them.  Before braising, defrost completely then braise as directed in the recipe.  Through this recipe I learned that if you can't find the right meat ground, buy it unground, cut into cubes and put in your food processor.  You won't know the difference.  This time I was able to find it ground, but another time I just ground the pork myself.  I always end up grinding the prosciutto and bread crumbs myself.  If you are doing the same then do the bread crumbs and prosciutto before the other messy meats.

Monday Meatballs

Adapted from A16 Food & Wine Cookbook

Makes about 24 meatballs

Ingredients:

10 oz boneless pork shoulder (Either pre-ground from your butcher or cut up in cubes and finely chopped in a food processor)

10 oz beef chuck (Either ground or cut up in cubes and finely chopped in food processor)

6 oz. day old good baguette, ciabatta or country bread, cut into cubes and finely chopped in food processor

4 oz prosciutto, cut into slices and ground in food processor

1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

1 TBL plus 2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp dried chile flakes

1/3 cup ricotta cheese

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 TBL milk

2 - 28 oz cans San Marzano Tomatoes with juices

handful of fresh basil leaves, torn

block of parmesan cheese for grating

Extra virgin olive oil for finishing

Spaghetti to serve with

Preheat the oven to 400.  Coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with olive oil.  In a large bowl, combine the pork, beef, bread, prosciutto, parsley, 1 TBL of the salt, oregano, fennel seeds and chile flakes and mix with your hands until the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Set aside.  

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs.  Add the ricotta and milk.  Add the ricotta mixture to the ground meat mixture and mix lightly with your hands until just incorporated.  The mixture should feel wet and tacky.  

If desired, you can test your meatball at this stage by taking a spoonful of it, flattening into a disk and sauteeing in olive oil.  Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed.  

Form the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls about 2 oz. each and place on the prepared baking sheets.  You should have about 24 meatballs.  

Bake, rotating the sheets once from front to back, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are browned.  Remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 300.  

Sprinkle the tomatoes with the remaining 2 tsp of salt and squeeze the tomatoes with your hands into small pieces.  

Pack the meatballs into 1 large roasting pan.   Pour the tomato sauce over the meatballs, cover tightly with aluminum foil and braise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the meatballs are tender and have absorbed some of the tomato sauce.  

Meanwhile cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Pull the pans out of the oven and uncover.  Top the pasta with the sauce, then meatballs, torn basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil.  Top with shredded parmesan.