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End Result of Spaghetti with Meatballs
Chelsea AyeChelsea Aye

Spaghetti & Meatballs

A homemade spaghetti and meatballs dish with pan-fried, toast-bound meatballs simmered in a tomato-celery-carrot sauce and served over spaghetti.
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Servings: 3 servings
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g ground beef
  • 4 slices toast
  • 1 cup water for soaking toast
  • 300 ml chicken broth
  • 8 cloves garlic finely minced, use ½ for meatballs, remainder for sauce
  • 3 onions finely diced, use ⅓ for meatballs, remainder for sauce
  • 4 Roma tomatoes medium diced
  • 2 cans crushed tomatoes 800g total
  • 3 stalks celery finely diced, use ⅓ for meatballs, remainder for sauce
  • 1 carrot finely diced
  • 1 handful fresh coriander leaves ⅔ for meatballs, ⅓ for topping
  • ½ cup all purpose flour for coating meatballs
  • 1 large egg
  • 5 tbsp olive oil divided for frying meatballs, sauce, pasta water, and drizzling
  • 280 g spaghetti
  • 3 tsp garlic powder divided between meatballs and sauce
  • 3 tsp black pepper divided between meatballs and sauce
  • 1 tsp mild paprika powder used in meatballs
  • 2 tsp chicken bouillon powder divided between meatballs and sauce
  • 3 tsp salt divided between meatballs and sauce
  • 1½ tsp dried thyme added to sauce
  • 1 tsp dried oregano added to sauce
  • water for boiling pasta, fill pot about 2 inches from the top
  • salt for pasta water

Method
 

  1. Prep ingredients in separate bowls. Soak 4 toast slices in 1 cup water until fully soaked. Squeeze out as much water as possible; tear into pieces.
  2. Roughly chop ⅔ of the coriander for meatballs; reserve the rest for topping.
  3. In a large bowl, hand-mix meat, beaten egg, chopped coriander, ⅓ of the celery and onions, ½ of the garlic, wet toast, and 1 tsp each garlic powder, black pepper, mild paprika, chicken bouillon powder, and salt. Form 1 inch balls.
  4. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Flour meatballs, shaking off excess; add in batches without stacking.
  5. Fry meatballs 2 minutes, flip, and fry another 2 minutes until colored; remove.
  6. Heat another 2 tbsp olive oil in the same pot. Sauté remaining celery, onions, and garlic about 40 seconds. Add carrots; cook 3 minutes, stirring consistently.
  7. Cook Roma tomatoes 3 minutes until they break down. Stir in crushed tomatoes and half the chicken broth. Cover and cook 10 minutes.
  8. Fill a separate pot with water to about 2 inches below the top. Add a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt; simmer. Add spaghetti; boil 8 to 10 minutes until al dente.
  9. Reserve about ½ cup pasta water for the sauce. Drain pasta, drizzle with olive oil, and set aside. Add reserved water, remaining salt, garlic powder, black pepper, chicken bouillon powder, thyme, and oregano to sauce.
  10. Stir sauce well. Break 6 meatballs into it and stir. Stir in remaining chicken broth, then all remaining meatballs. Cook another 8 minutes until cooked through.
  11. Add pasta to sauce; serve topped with fresh coriander.

Notes

Coat hands with olive oil to help shape sticky meatballs. For a touch of sweetness, ⅓ tsp sugar can be added with the salt and spices in step 9. Basil is the classic and recommended topping choice instead of coriander.
Total time: about 1 hour 15 mins.