Grandma Julia's Spaghetti and Meatballs

This is the original recipe from my Italian grandma Julia Perricone, to the best of my memory. I have since tweaked it, but this is intended to be the unedited, original version (my tweaks are in parenthesis). FYI, The sauce is much better the next day after the flavors have had time to merry overnight.

Good

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Let the meat sit out for a few hours to get to room temperature, making it easier to work with.

Step 2

Open the canned tomatoes and place in a blender. Fill the can with water and add to the blender. Puree the canned tomatoes until smooth. Set aside. (I use crushed tomatoes so I don't have to use a blender, and I also don't add water).

Step 3

Heat oil in a stock pot on medium heat. Roll the pot around to evenly coat the bottom of the pot.

Step 4

Add the garlic and saute until golden brown. BE CAREFUL not to burn the garlic (turns black). It goes from light brown to dark brown very quickly.

Step 5

Immediately add the tomato puree from the blender to the pot. (I just add the crushed tomatoes directly to the pot).

Step 6

Turn up the heat on the stove to medium-high. Spoon in the tomato paste. Stir constantly to prevent burning the contents at the bottom, until all of the paste "melts" into the mixture.

Step 7

Bring the mixture to a boil. Add the baking soda to the mixure, a little bit at a time, to prevent the mixure from bubbling over until all has been added. Stir the mixture between each increment. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Step 8

Turn down the heat to medium or medium-low, depending on your stove, in order to bring the contents to a light boil. Add the sugar, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Cook for about an hour and a half, checking and stirring every 15 min to prevent burning the sauce. Taste the sauce each iteration after one hour of cooking. Add additional time as needed. If you double the recipe, you'll have to double the cook time. (With my crushed tomatoes version, there is significantly less water, so cook time is about half that of the original version).

Step 9

With the sauce simmering, prepare the meatballs by mixing the two meats together by hand in a large mixing bowl.

Step 10

Whisk the egg and add into the meat mixture. Add the remaining ingredients in order and mix together by hand. The mixture should end up half way between sticky and dry. If it is on the wetter side of the spectrum, add in bread crumbs a little bit at a time to get a good consistency to roll into balls.

Step 11

Smell the mixture to ensure that you can smell the garlic and Italian seasoning. Add additional of either as needed.

Step 12

Roll the meat mixture into golf ball sized balls and toss into the sauce. Be careful when stirring after adding the meatballs to prevent them breaking apart. Ensure all of them are covered by the sauce.

Step 13

When the sauce is about 30 min from complete, bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta of your choice, e.g. spaghetti, angel hair, etc., to el dente. Set aside.

Step 14

After the pasta is complete, heat up plates in the oven on its lowest temperature (~150-170°F) for about 5 min.

Step 15

Serve pasta, sauce, and meatballs on a hot plate.