One of my go-to recipes because of its quick and simple preparation and delicious outcome. Cooking the pasta in the sauce for the last few minutes really lets all the flavors settle into each other. This recipe can easily be cut in half if making for less people.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

For the Meatballs:

1 cup panko bread crumb or if gluten free you can sub 1 cup almond flour

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

1 cup pecorino

1 organic egg

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup filtered water or milk

1 tsp sea salt

1 lb freshly ground organic chicken

If Frying the meatballs:

1/2 cup olive oil or ghee

1 smashed garlic clove

For the sauce:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, smashed

Pinch red pepper flakes

2 onions, peeled and split in half

2 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed into small pieces with wooden spoon while cooking

Two stems of basil

1 lb spaghetti

Method:

For the sauce:

This recipe is my take on Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce. Add the tomatoes, onion halves, garlic cloves, and a small pinch of salt. Bring to a boil then immediately lower heat to a very gentle simmer and cook for about 1 hour or until sauce has thickened and sweetened a bit. Crush the tomatoes with a wooden spoon as they cook. Add basil in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Discard onion, garlic and basil.

For the meatballs and pasta:

If baking meatballs preheat broiler to high with oven rack on top.

Add breadcrumbs, ground chicken, parsley, cheese, egg, garlic, salt and water or milk into a large bowl and combine gently with hands. Roll into balls and place on baking sheet. If you are baking them instead of frying, brush meatballs with olive oil or ghee and place into preheated for about 8 min.  If frying: Heat up 1/2 cup of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat and add one smashed garlic clove. When garlic clove is golden, remove and discard. Fry meatballs in batches for 5 min on each side. Make sure you are not overcrowding the pan. Have a baking sheet lined with clean paper towel to place cooked meatballs.

While the meatballs and sauce are cooking, bring filtered water to a boil in a large pot. Add a generous amount of sea salt and let water return to a boil. Cook spaghetti until just shy of al dente (about 2 min before package cooking time).

Transfer pasta directly from the pot into the sauce. Toss the pasta with the tomato sauce on low heat for a minute or two. Plate pasta and top with meatballs, sauce, basil and some chopped parsley if you have left over. Grate extra cheese on top.