Nascent Meatballs

I decided to try something different and decided to make spaghetti and meatballs the other day, from scratch. I don't remember making meatballs before, I may have. I used this recipe from Natasha with a few adjustments.

Leslie had bought some really good grass fed ground beef at Sprouts for a great price. 85/15%. I went to Major Market and bought two mild Italian sausage. I didn't have white bread so I cut the crusts off sourdough and mashed that in my water.

I got a big mixing bowl and added my egg and cheese and mixed it all by hand. Diverting just a tad from the recipe I added dried basil, oregano and fennel seed. We don't do raw or cooked onion so I substituted a lot of onion powder. Added two 28 oz. cans of Cento organic crushed tomatoes.

I scooped the meatballs with the ice cream scooper and then gave them an additional hand roll.  Got about twenty or so.

It was here that things went slightly adrift.

I fried them in a bit of avocado oil but some lost their shape.

Might be lousy technique on my part, used tongs and a flat spatula, I am told chopsticks are the key.

I took the seared and browned meatballs out and put them on a platter.

Then I went about making my sauce, frying garlic after releasing my browned bits with a little marsala flambe.

I brought the sauce up to a quick boil and then left them in a slow simmer, after adding a bay leaf and seasoning with salt, pepper, red cracked pepper and a few other spices for taste.

I reintroduced the meatballs to the sauce and hoped for a beautiful marriage!

I also added a secret ingredient I have seen in some recipes, parmesan rind, which I removed at the very end with the bayleaf.

Added fresh basil at the finish and a lot of freshly grated parmesan.

We used bucatini, a favorite, not being able to locate the square spaghetti we recently bought at whole foods. 

Oh, well.

I'm biased but I thought that the dish tasted wonderful.

I can now go to my grave knowing that I am capable of making a good meatball.

I asked a few friends for comments on why my meatballs may have not held their shape?

Jim thought they might have been too dry, said to use ground pork instead of sausage.

Wagman thought I should add cold water, like he does.

I think one egg was not enough of a binder and my rather diminutive egg was small for all that meat but who knows?

Will try again. 

My wife wants me to add mushrooms next time.

Leslie had a nice rose pinot noir that we paired with the dish.

Awful good.