Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spaghetti and Meatballs. Doesn't that sound good? Simple. Classic. Comforting. Makes me want to curl up on the couch with a big steaming bowl, a bottle of wine and some old movies. It's the little things in life.

The inspiration for this comfort meal came from this recipe a friend sent me from Smitten Kitchen: Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion (from Marcela Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking)

Tomatoes, butter, and onion

She positively raved about how good this tomato sauce is. And stupid easy. Literally, just three ingredients: canned tomatoes, onion, and butter. You don't even need to chop the onion. Simply peel it and cut it in half. In it goes with the tomatoes and the secret ingredient to all things delicious (butter), and let it simmer. The result is really something phenomenal.

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion

I tweaked the recipe slightly by adding a spoonful of sugar (I always add a little sugar to my tomato sauce, it helps balance out the acidity). I also added an extra can of whole peeled tomatoes. The original recipe didn't make enough sauce to satisfy my saucy craving, and was a little too rich with the tomato:butter ratio.

A note on the canned tomatoes. If you can find San Marzano tomatoes, they are the best quality, but you do pay a lot more for them. I went budget on this and went for three 14.5 ounce cans of grocery store brand whole peeled tomatoes. The sauce turned out delicious. With that much butter how could it not be delicious?

The butter is the secret weapon here. It adds such a luxurious, full flavor to the sauce, and brings out the best in the tomato and onion.

Makings of some mean meatballs

With a solid sauce done, easy peasy, I turned my attention to meatballs.

I adapted a straightforward, traditional recipe from an episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown. "Grandma Maronis Meatballs 100 Year Old Recipe" consisted of the classic mix of ground chuck, bread crumbs, eggs, milk, cheese, onion, garlic, and herbs.

Three key changes I made:
1) Caramelize the onions before adding them to the mix. I do this when I make hamburgers too. By developing the sugars in the onion, you end up with a much greater depth of flavor.
2) Brown the meatballs in a pan before sticking them in the oven. Browned meat = More flavor. Plus, you get that nice crispy sear on the outside.
3) Add a few spoonfuls of Concord grape jelly.

Secret Ingredient: Concord Grape Jelly

That's right, the secret to awesome meatballs is Grape Jelly. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

I picked up this family secret from Dom, a friend from school who studied abroad with me in Bologna. His grandma swears by this. Grazie mille, Nonna Musacchio, you are brilliant. You would never guess that grape jelly is in the recipe, but it adds a little sweet sumpthin' sumpthin' that just works.

Meatball Mania

Sauce, check. Meatballs, check. Now who has an old copy of The Godfather I can borrow?

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion
Adapted from Marcela Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking

Serves: 4 (makes enough sauce to coat a pound of spaghetti)

Ingredients:
43.5 ounces canned whole peeled tomatoes *
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt to taste

Preparation:
1. Put the tomatoes, onion, butter, and sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
2. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.
3. Remove from heat, discard the onion, and salt to taste (you might find, as I did, that your tomatoes came salted and that you don't need to add more) and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

* If you can find San Marzano tomatoes, they are the best, but I made this with sauce with grocery-store brand canned tomatoes and it still came out delicious.

Nonna Knows Best: 100 Year Old Meatball Recipe
Adapted from "Grandma Maronis Meatballs 100 Year Old Recipe," courtesy of Mike Maroni

Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chuck
½ cup dried bread crumbs
4 large eggs
4 ounces whole milk
¾ cup grated Parmigiano
½ large yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons Concord grape jelly
¼ cup finely chopped fresh Italian flat parsley
¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon salt

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
2. Caramelize the diced onion.
3. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. If the mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs.
4. Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Brown the meatballs in a frying pan until they have a nice golden crust.
5. Place the meatballs back on the baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 to 30 minutes.

Roasted Beet Inspiration from Pasta Sfoglia

When I saw this gorgeous dish of Farro Spaghetti, Beets, Brown Butter, and Poppy Seeds featured on Grub Street New York a few weeks ago, it was so beautiful it hurt my heart a little.

A recipe from Pasta Sfoglia, a new cookbook by Ron Suhanosky and Colleen Marnell-Suhanosky (owners of the acclaimed Italian restaurant Sfoglia, with locations in NY and Nantucket), this dish is striking with its ruby red stain and specks of poppy seeds.

The book explains that beets, together with poppy seeds, are typical in dishes of the northern Italian regions of Friuli and Alto Adige. While the combination sounds wonderful -- really, I can't wait to try the recipe word for word -- I didn't have poppy seeds on hand and I wasn't ready to commit to all that butter for a simple weeknight meal. Oh yes, and then there was that pesky aversion to goat cheese I have. (I know, first the butter, now this? Please hold the hate mail, I do love flavor, I promise you.)

And so, the bastardization of Pasta Sfoglia's recipe began.

Instead of covering the beets in olive oil and water to roast in a baking dish like they suggest, I went with my tried and true, easy method of wrapping the beets in foil and roasting them on a baking sheet. A little less mess and 1/4 cup less olive oil.

I couldn't find farro spaghetti, but I did have some whole wheat spaghetti in the pantry. A tip for anyone who has ever tried whole wheat spaghetti and hated it, try Barilla's Plus Multigrain Pasta. Unlike many other brands of whole grain pasta, it doesn't taste like cardboard. The texture and flavor are surprisingly similar to regular pasta. Especially in this dish where the color and accompanying ingredients are so spectacular, you won’t even notice the difference.

Barilla Plus Multigrain Spaghetti

For the brown butter sauce, I cut down the 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter to only 3 tablespoons, and made up for the missing half by adding 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Instead of poppy seeds, I used walnuts chopped finely.

Instead of goat cheese, I used Boursin. Its creamy texture was a good match, as was its tangy, rich flavor. The perfect substitute I thought, with an extra boost of garlic and herb flavoring, and not a trace of the gaminess I find so deterring in goat's milk products.

In the end, despite my changes and substitutions, I think the essence of the dish remained intact to Sfoglia's original recipe. The flavor of the roasted beets is front and center. And what an elusive flavor to describe that is. What does a beet taste like? (Besides red).

It is clean and earthy. Mellow. Wholesome. Paired with the herby tang of the cheese, the toasted walnuts, and brown butter, the dish exudes a woodsy warmth to it. Strong oak trees, sun speckled leaves, and rich dirt crumbling through my fingertips.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Beets, Brown Butter, Walnuts

Adapted from Ron Suhanosky and Colleen Marnell-Suhanosky's recipe for "Farro Spaghetti, Beets, Brown Butter, Poppy Seeds" (Pasta Sfoglia).

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 pound red beets, cleaned with leaves and stalks removed
1 package Barilla Plus Multigrain Spaghetti (14.5 oz)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup pasta water
4 tablespoons Boursin cheese

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Wrap the beets in foil and place on a baking sheet. Roast for an hour until the beets are tender through. Let cool until you can handle them.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

3. Peel the beets and cut into chunks. Tip: wear gloves or place a plastic baggie over your hand to protect your fingers from getting stained. Using a paring knife, peel the skin off the beets. It should come off easily.

4. Add the beets to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process to a rough puree. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.

5. Add the butter to a 10-inch skillet. Turn on the heat to high. Brown the butter, about 2 minutes. Add the olive oil. Add the chopped walnuts and toast for 1-2 minutes (be careful not to burn). Add the pureed beets, salt, and the ½ cup pasta water to the skillet. Stir to fully incorporate.

6. Use tongs to remove the spaghetti from the pot and place them directly into the skillet with the sauce. Stir to combine.

7. Divide the spaghetti into equal portions and place on warm plates. Use two large soup spoons to form little oval mounds (called quenelles in culinary speak) of the Boursin. Place a quenelle of Boursin on top of each serving.

8. Serve immediately.

It's heirloom tomato season! The folks over at Visa and the chefs of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association wisely recognized that's reason enough to celebrate. Beginning next week over 52 restaurants and chefs are putting together special themed tasting menus including Chris Cosentino of Incanto, Bruce Hill of Bix, Traci des Jardins of Jardinière and Acme Chop House, and Craig Stoll of Delfina. Pay for your meal with a Visa Signature card you will also receive a tomato commemorative book, including special recipes from the chefs and restaurants involved in the event.


What: Heirloom Tomato Week

When: August 14-24 plus a tasting event August 7-9 at Union Square.

Where: Selected San Francisco restaurants

How: Dine at any of the participating restaurants, by booking at OpenTable

Why: Let's put that nasty salmonella outbreak behind us once and for all, and enjoy the pure pleasure of tomatoes again.

Here's an example of an heirloom tasting menu with wine pairing, from one of the participating restaurants, Plumpjack Cafe :

Heirloom tomato salad
Tarragon Aioli, Banyuls Vinegar, Onion Marmalade

Cambiata Albarino 2007 Monterey

Seared day boat scallops
Golden Tomato Vinaigrette, Savoy Spinach

Dom. de la Chapelle Macon Soultre Pouilly 2007 France

Tomato braised kurobuta pork shoulder
Pimenton de Padron, Summer Squash, Moroccan Black Olives

Lagerla Rosso di Montalcino 2004 Italy

Selection of cheeses
Heirloom Tomato Condiments, Toasted Peasant Bread

Lustau “Emilin” Moscatel Sherry Spain

Tasting menu is $45 and optional wine pairing $21

Want to enjoy the best Summer produce at home? Here's a recipe adapted from Barilla Pasta.

Summer Spaghetti

1 lb whole grain spaghetti
2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned
2 cups zucchini, diced
2 cups yellow squash, diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Salt and black pepper, to taste
4 fresh basil leaves, torn

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet. Using the side of a knife, gently press and peel the garlic and sauté in skillet for 1 minute, or until slightly brown. Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash and sauté until heated but not completely cooked. Add tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and sauté for 2 additional minutes.

Drain pasta, add to skillet and toss with basil before serving.