This week was my first official week attending professional baking classes. I’m only a couple classes in and have already experienced a whirlwind of emotions. There were moments on my first day of class where I felt as if I was a contestant in a cooking competition. All of my classmates knew where to retrieve all of the tools and ingredients to get started on their baking assignment, I, on the other hand, can’t even count how many times I ran around the kitchen asking my classmates if they knew where the rye flour, yeast, scales, or mixing bowls were. Unlike baking at home, we were required to measure everything using a scale. The classes have consumed most of my time outside of work, I haven’t even had much time to do anything else other than eat and sleep on weekdays. Whenever I have insanely packed weekdays, I like to prepare large servings of food the weekend before. Cooking ahead means I will be less tempted to order takeout or eat out. One of Kevin’s favorite dishes is meatballs. He loves all kinds of meatballs especially Italian style and my Hoisin glazed meatballs (packed with Asian flavors). If I’m preparing Italian style meatballs, I like to pair them with spaghetti tossed in a simple tomato puree. My spaghetti and meatballs are a homage to the spaghetti and meatballs I frequently ate growing up in New York City. There was always an abundance of local Italian restaurants throughout New York City serving home cooked Italian meatballs and spaghetti. I loved being able to explore all of the different local restaurants to experience different takes on traditional spaghetti and meatballs. Many of the traditional Italian style meatballs I’ve had featured ground beef (sometimes with other grounded meat mixed in), diced onion, tons of garlic, fresh parsley, Parmigiano Reggiano, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. I typically stick to the traditional style, but sometimes I swap in panko breadcrumbs for an airier crisp. This time around, I omitted the breadcrumbs altogether for leaner, meatier meatballs. I did keep the rest of the components of the meatballs in line with the traditional versions I ate growing up. I always brown the meatballs first before baking them with a simple tomato puree for optimal flavor. While the meatballs are baking in the oven, I prepare a box of thick spaghetti to toss into the simple tomato puree used to bake the meatballs. The end result is an intensely flavorful spaghetti and meatballs dish. Since it was just Kevin and I eating, we didn’t finish all of the spaghetti and meatballs. I ended up packing some away for lunch and dinner throughout the week. I even set aside some of the meatballs to make a meatball topped pizza later in the week. My spaghetti and meatballs made for the ideal warming and comforting food I truly crave (and need) on busy, chilly fall days. Meal prepping on weekends is definitely the best time saver for packed weekdays. Spaghetti and meatballs are a great dish to make ahead in bulk on weekends and divide into potions for meals on the weekdays. With food taken care of for this week, I can start planning for the upcoming week.
For the meatballs:
· 4 tablespoons of olive oil (or less depending on how many meatballs your skillet can accommodate at once)
· ½ onion, finely diced
· 3 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 pound ground beef
· 2-3 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
· 6-8 sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 1 (28 oz.) can tomato puree
· 1 package dry thick spaghetti, broken in half and cooked according to the package instructions
· 3 sprigs fresh parsley, stems removed (for garnishing)
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Set aside a baking dish.
2) Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add one tablespoon of oil. Cook the onion and garlic in the skillet for 3-5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Let the onion and garlic cool before adding into meatballs. You can speed up the cooling process by placing the onion and garlic into the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
3) In a large bowl, combine the onion, garlic, ground beef, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, parsley, salt, and black pepper. Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly with your hands and roll portions of the mixture into 1-inch wide meatballs. Wash your hands after all portions are rolled into meatballs.
4) In the same skillet used to cook the onion and garlic, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, cook 6-7 meatballs at a time until meatballs are browned on all sides. You can cook more meatballs at a time if your skillet can accommodate more than 6-7 meatballs at a time. Remove browned meatballs to the baking dish. Repeat process with another tablespoon of oil and another 6-7 meatballs until all meatballs are browned. Place the remaining browned meatballs into the baking dish and top with the tomato puree. Bake the meatballs in the oven for 20 minutes.
5) As the meatballs are baking in the oven, prepare the package of dry spaghetti in a pot of boiling water according to the instructions on the package of the spaghetti. When the spaghetti is done cooking, reserve about ¼ cup of the starchy spaghetti water and drain the rest.
6) When the meatballs are done baking in the oven, toss the meatballs and tomato puree with the cooked spaghetti. Add the reserved spaghetti water and toss again. Serve the spaghetti and meatballs with fresh parsley.
Takeaways: This recipe yields leaner, meatier meatballs. If you prefer more traditional plump and airy meatballs, try my baked meatballs and spaghetti, which includes the addition of breadcrumbs and an egg. For an Asian spin on meatballs, check out my Hoisin glazed meatballs.