« Home- ⏲️Prep time: 20 min
- 🍳 Cook time: 40 min
- 🍽️Servings: 6
Ingredients
For the sauce
- ½ chopped sweet yellow onion
- 3 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 cup finely chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped cremini brown mushrooms
- 2 cans (28 oz.) Italian plum tomatoes
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
- 3 tbsp. tomato paste
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan-Romano cheese blend
- ¼ cup red wine (optional)
For the meatballs
- 1 lb. ground beef
- ½ lb. fresh bulk Italian style pork sausage
- 2 tbsp. finely chopped basil
- 2 tbsp. finely chopped Italian parsley
- ½ cup finely chopped cremini brown mushrooms
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan-Romano cheese blend
- Red wine (optional)
For the pasta
Directions
Prepare the sauce
- Heat olive oil in a 4 to 5 quart pot on medium-high heat.
- Add onions and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer or until fragrant.
- Add the carrots and mushrooms, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, stir to blend, and cook for a minute longer.
- Add the canned tomatoes, basil, and parsley.
- Mash and stir the tomatoes with a potato masher until the sauce starts to thicken, about 5 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer gently while preparing meatballs, stirring occasionally.
- In a large bowl, mix by hand the beef, Italian sausage, basil, parsley, mushrooms, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, and 2 tablespoons of salt and pepper.
- Do not overmix or the meatballs will be tough.
- Use small melon baller (or teaspoon) to form 1-inch round meatballs.
- Roll and compress into tight balls.
Cook the meatballs
- In a separate wide, shallow pan, heat olive oil on medium-high heat.
- Brown meatballs on all sides for about 2-3 minutes.
- Depending on the pan size, you may need to brown two batches of the meatballs. Cook them in a single layer; do not crowd the pan by stacking them.
- Do not overcook the meatballs; they will continue to cook in the sauce.
- Towards the end of browning the meatballs, add a little bit of red wine to deglaze the pan.
Finish and simmer the sauce
- Add the cheese and red wine to the sauce and stir it in. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to taste.
- Add meatballs and gently stir. Simmer the sauce and meatballs for 30-45 minutes while cooking the spaghetti, stirring occasionally.
Cook the spaghetti
- Cook the pasta and optionally add 1/3 cup of pasta water to the sauce.
Serve
- Place a thin layer of sauce on a plate. Add pasta, sauce and meatballs.