the spaghetti and meatballs recipe I'm
about to share with you is sponsored by
Skillshare it's italian-american culture
on a plate it's an edible grief stained
white tank top it's big sloppy loud and
awesome and here's how I do it the
meatballs themselves are pretty much how
grandma ragu see I made them starts with
bread crumbs bread crumbs are what make
meatballs not tiny hamburgers it's an
essential ingredient and you could
source them however I happen to actually
have some stale bread here which is
obviously what recipes like this were
originally designed to convert into
productive use dirty your food processor
if you want to but I need to dirty my
grater for this recipe anyway so I
figure I might as well use it for the
bread I would certainly not weigh this
if you weren't watching but because you
are 20 grams or 1/3 of a cup but dear
Lord this is not precise then we're
gonna soak these in milk just enough to
cover I probably pour it in more than I
needed there I did an experiment once
where I soaked them in water instead and
I absolutely could tell the difference
in the finished meatballs the milk
sugars really come through and I think
kind of caramelize a bit on the outside
more dairy now some pecorino or Parmesan
cheese this is what gave my grandma's
meatballs insane flavor I don't think it
matters much which side of the grater
you use I'm doing it on the finest side
because I'm gonna reserve some of this
to top the pasta later and I like the
fine cheese dust on top of this
particular dish probably just because
that's what I grew up with fine grated
pecorino in a jelly jar always on the
table get yourself a mixing bowl and
throw in about a pound of ground meat
this is beef chuck I think fatty or meat
makes better meatballs I sometimes mix
it with lamb which is great on goes
about 20 grams of cheese same basic
quantities the breadcrumbs third of a
cup this is so a job for garlic powder
it rehydrates in the meat and comes
through a lot stronger than fresh garlic
iMHO maybe even half a teaspoon same
deal with the onion powder some people
use fresh onions and meatballs but you
really have to cook them first or at
least puree them the powder is so much
easier and I think actually tastes
better in this bunch of black pepper and
a little shake of cayenne for chef John
and for grandma she did this it doesn't
make the meatballs spicy it's more of a
background flavor makes them taste a
fuller I'd say at least half a teaspoon
of salt real big pinch you might need
more but remember the cheese is very
salty
now the breadcrumbs at the very least
you want to lift these out of the milk
to leave any loose milk behind you might
also want to squeeze
a little in my opinion the more milk you
leave in the better the meatballs taste
but more milk means softer consistency
which makes them harder to cook they're
more likely to break apart as you're
browning them I was trying to play it
safe for the camera here but when I
tasted these I wished that I had left
more milk in you see that I don't use
any egg for binding I think that's
unnecessary and it makes the meatballs
rubbery what also makes the meatballs
tough is over mixing this I'm using my
fingertips to almost just toss it
together if you keep the mixture
somewhat heterogeneous you're leaving
little fault lines inside the meatballs
that will cause them to crumble in a
pleasant way inside your mouth if you're
in any way unsure of your seasonings
especially your salt I highly recommend
just cooking a tiny bit of this now and
tasting it if you cook it in the
microwave just to kill any bacteria then
taste it and adjust as I roll these out
I'm shooting for maybe a ping-pong ball
size may be a little smaller if you go
much smaller it becomes hard to Brown
these without breaking them up if you go
bigger you get less brown surface
relative to the total mass giant
meatballs are free Instagram screw that
some people coat these in flour before
frying them I don't like the slimy
texture that gives them after they soak
in the sauce ideally I think you want to
stop cover and throw these in the fridge
now for a while overnight would be
awesome I think it improves the flavor
and it definitely helps them hold
together better during cooking but I
don't have that kind of time right now
olive oil in a pan big enough to not
only cook the meatballs but also the
tomato sauce that's coming moderate heat
oil nice and hot before the meatballs go
in got to get a good crust on them or
they'll break when you try to flip them
honestly a well-seasoned cast-iron pan
or a Teflon pan is really the best thing
for this job grandma used cast-iron
I used the stainless steel here for
color contrast and it makes it easier
for you to see what's happening but I
regretted it some of these stuck and
broke on me as I tried to scrape them
off the better tool to use anyway is a
wooden spoon to kind of push the
meatballs off the bottom of the pan but
my wooden spoon was missing I believe
someone was using it as a sword to
torment his brother give up on the idea
of perfectly round meatballs you know
how people get those by chucking their
meatballs in a deep fryer which is not a
thing that I'm going to do you just roll
these around and try to get as much of
the surface area browned as possible I'm
being conservative with my heat because
I'm gonna build my sauce right here in
the same pan and I do not want to let
the Fond burn speaking of which in goes
a big squeeze of
paste it gives incredible instant depth
to a quick tomato sauce especially if
you let it fry for a second before it
burns in goes a high-quality 28 ounce
can of crushed tomatoes about 800 grams
and then deglaze the bottom of the pan
really wish I had my wooden spoon right
now and this is where grandma and I
really part ways she made her sauce in a
pot fried the meatballs in a pan and
then transferred them to the pot I think
you get amazing flavor if you do it all
in one pan the dissolved meatball fond
and rendered beef fat is all the
additional flavoring these tomatoes need
I think and if you do a small quantity
of tomatoes in a wide pan you can reduce
them really fast I like a very tight
texture on tomato sauce for pasta
grandmas was super watery this will be
done in the time that it takes to boil
the spaghetti did I mentioned I had a
pot of salted water coming to a boil in
goes half a pound of spaghetti half a
box 225 250 grams I break my spaghetti
in half because I think that makes it
easier to get the amount that I want on
each fork fall if that makes you angry I
frankly think you have really messed up
priorities this needs to be stirred
frequently or it'll stick and burn you
absolutely could do this in a cast-iron
pan
even though cast iron reacts with acid
it takes a long time for a noticeable
amount of iron to leach into your sauce
and this sauce is going to be done in
ten minutes when the pasta is almost
there I'll turn off the heat and I like
to mix some grated cheese right into the
sauce along with some fresh serve I'm
using parsley today I'm gonna top with
those ingredients too but I like to have
a little running throughout now is when
you'd want to taste for seasoning
because the cheese brings additional
salt drain off your pasta and if you
wanted a looser texture you could keep
some of that water in there me I like it
tight verging on dry which is why I like
to add the sauce into the pasta pot and
not the other way around this way I can
make sure that I'm not over saucing my
pasta grandma was from that generation
of Italian Americans that just put the
pasta on the plate dry and then poured
the pasta sauce on top I'm not into that
but I do like to preserve a bit of that
heterogeneity or layering of textures by
under saucing the spaghetti in the pot
putting it on the plate and then
scooping a little more sauce on top with
some more meatballs it's nice to have
some meatballs sitting right on top
there it's super weird that I care but I
also like to put my parsley or a basil
on first and then the cheese on top I
like how the cheese stays white and
looks like fresh fallen snow on the
leaves half a box of pasta would
normally just give you two generous
portions but with the added bulk of the
meat
bawls I think I've got enough food here
for three or four people this is
certainly a higher meat to pasta ratio
than grandma would have eaten but I'm
living in more plentiful times and I'd
rather load up on protein than carbs I
love the brighter taste you get with a
quick cooked sauce the meatballs are
small enough that you could eat them in
one bite but if I cut into one with a
fork you can see how it kind of crumbles
that's what I like as opposed to the
kind of rubber ball texture that you get
if you don't take the steps that I took
to keep these soft just a little skill
that I've picked up and I'm happy to
share with you as thousands of
instructors at Skillshare are happy to
share what they know Skillshare is an
online learning community for creative
people where millions of folks come
together to learn how to make things and
express themselves as I record this the
world is on lockdown due to the kovat 19
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best coping strategies I know it can
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come on make spaghetti and meatballs you
know you wanna