Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs

My Gram is not Italian. She is not of any Hispanic or Latino decent. But man oh man could she cook both like any old Italian or Mexican grandma I know. And I mean that with no disrespect to any of my friends. It was all because of a club she was part of way back in the day. Believe me, I wish I could be a fly on a the wall of that club. But I'm eating the recipes. And the many different variations of ways she cooked. She cooked meatballs a million ways. Never the same way. Sometimes with breadcrumbs, sometimes with bread soaked in milk. Sometimes browned in a pan then finished in the sauce (as today) other times browned in the oven if for a big crowd. There was even the time I saw her put the meatballs raw into the sauce. Different texture but still define. She never told me about the club and exchanging recipes. I found that years after her passing. I'd kill for those stories. I bet those were amazing times.

Spaghetti and Meatballs


1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork (mine is country pork or seasoned pork from the deli
1/4 onion diced finely
3 cloves garlic minced
2 pieces bread crust removed
1/2 cup milk warm
Salt pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1 egg (I forgot)
2 cans purred tomatoes
I like to cut the crust off
put the milk in the micro for 45 seconds

Let the bread soak up all the warm milk
Add the meat to a bowl with the garlic
Slice up the onion. You only need about 1/4 cup and finely cut
See how the bread soak up all the warm milk
Take the bread and chop it up
Add the cut up bread to the bowl. See what I forgot? An egg!!
Mix up the meat
roll the meatballs onto a cookie sheet. When the kids were little I made them smaller. The older they get the bigger the meatballs seem to get.
dont turn the meatballs until they will turn or they will tear the meatball and break the meatball. be patient
as the meatballs brown add them to a plate and keep adding meatballs to the pan
get the sauce ready
brown the last of the meatballs
add the tomato sauce

Slide the meatballs that were on the plate and any juices into the sauce
Let the meatballs simmer in the sauce for an hour
Add Pasta Cover and simmer for ten minutes (I love the way it tastes when you let the sauce soak into the noodles)
DINNER!!!