- Hey guys, today I'm
going to share with you
one of my favorite recipes
for a Sunday night dinner.
It's my Four-Generation
Spaghetti and Meatball recipe.
Now, I call this my Four-Generation recipe
because it has been passed down to me
through three generations of favorite
Italian women in my life.
It started with my
great-grandmother, Big Nonna.
So, they used to call her Big Nonna
because she was the
matriarch of the family.
And Nonna in Italian means Grandmother.
Then she passed the
recipe onto her daughter,
Pauline, my grandmother
who we used to call Nonnie.
Now, I love this picture
of her and my grandfather
on their honeymoon in Bermuda in the 20s.
They just look so elegant
and happy in this picture.
Unfortunately, I never got to meet Nonnie.
She died right before I was born,
however my father always tells me
that I remind him so much of her.
She loved to cook and entertain
and throw fabulous parties,
and I think if she was alive today,
we would have a lot in common.
And then she passed the
recipe down to her daughters,
my three aunts: Aunt Nancy,
Aunt Joy, and Aunt Melerie.
And I have had the great pleasure
of knowing all three of these
amazing women in my life.
They've known me since I was a baby,
and it was really fun
talking with each of them
to find out the basis of this recipe.
So first we are going to make
our own homemade tomato sauce.
Tomato sauce is one of those things,
that in my opinion you
should always make homemade.
It's so easy to do, and it's
going to taste ten times better
than that stuff you're
going to buy in a jar.
Trust me.
Let's take out a big stock pot.
You're going to add some diced tomatoes.
It takes about nine cups
cause we are feeding a crowd.
And this makes for great leftovers too,
so don't be concerned
if it looks like a lot.
And then here's where I
break with family tradition.
So, I love garlic, so I
am going to add two cloves
of garlic to my tomato sauce.
This is my little
contribution to this recipe,
however in talking to my Aunt Joy,
she told me that their family never
used garlic in tomato sauce,
and they really weren't big fans of garlic
in any of the recipes they used to make.
And we sort of giggled.
She said, "you know, garlic,
it's a real romance killer".
And they were one of five kids
so there could be something to that.
However, I am very happy
with my two lovely children,
so I'm going to add some garlic.
You're going to give that a simmer,
and then we're going to let that cook down
for at least twenty to thirty minutes.
I know that sounds like a long time,
but we have got work to do.
We got to make our meatballs,
and while that's simmering,
it's also going to
sweeten up those tomatoes
and help the sauce thicken.
So not to worry.
Now, you guys are going
to love these meatballs.
They are delicate, they are
soft, they are delicious.
They are not those heavy meatballs
that we have all had at
those Italian restaurants
where you get a big plate of
spaghetti and meatballs and you feel like
a ton of bricks have hit your stomach.
That is not this.
One of the reasons that
makes them so light
is we are going to add
bread instead of breadcrumbs
to our recipe.
Now, this is a technique
that dates back to Big Nonna.
According to Aunt Nancy,
this was something
that she used to always do,
and I have found that
it works so much better
than breadcrumbs for getting
a really nice, light meatball.
And then we are going to add
a third of a cup of milk.
I know it sounds strange,
but I'm telling you, this is the secret.
You have got to do this step.
So, trust me on this one.
We're going to let that sit
just for about five minutes
because we want that milk to
soak in to all that bread.
Now, traditionally in Italian cooking,
Italians like to mix three
different types of meats
for when they're making
meatballs or lasagna.
And traditionally, it ends up being
beef, pork and veal.
However, it can be really hard sometimes
to find veal in supermarkets
especially American supermarkets.
So, my Aunt Nancy told me what she does
is she actually swaps
out the veal for turkey.
And that is a really great idea.
It tastes just the same,
it's less expensive,
and it's so much easier to get.
Instead of ground pork,
my other little twist
that I like to do is to
actually use Italian sausage
because it's basically ground pork
with a bunch of spices inside.
You just need to remove it from the casing
or you can buy it in bulk,
whatever your supermarket offers.
And add it to the bowl as well.
Add two eggs.
This is going to help bind
our meatballs together,
and a cup of freshly
grated parmesan cheese.
And then you're also going to add
a third of a cup of freshly
minced flat-leaf parsley.
I love the parsley because
it gives a wonderful
freshness to these meatballs.
Add some freshly cracked pepper,
a little bit of salt,
then you're going to add
two tablespoons of Italian seasoning.
I love the Italian seasoning because
it has a bunch of dried
herbs all in one jar.
So, it'll save you money having to
go out and get a bunch
of different spices.
And we're also going to add
a teaspoon and a half of fennel seeds.
Now, the fun part.
How are we going to mix this all up?
Well, the best way to really
do it is with our hands.
Make sure your hands are clean.
Don't be squeamish.
It really is the best way to make sure
that all those meats are incorporated
with the egg and the cheese and the bread.
I just roll up my sleeves
and I think of Big Nonna
cause I am sure this is how she did it
and every woman who came after her.
So, roll up your sleeves, get in there,
and just mix it all up with your hands.
(lively Italian music)
- Now, here's the good
news with this recipe.
You do not need to sit at the stovetop
and start frying these
meatballs one at a time.
That always makes a big mess,
and it always sets off my fire alarm too
which really freaks out my kids.
Instead, I like to just put
these in the oven and bake them.
It's really great because they
all cook at the same time,
and you don't have any big
mess you have to clean up.
But, before we put them in the oven,
we are going to add one
more secret ingredient.
This idea came from my Aunt Melerie
who told me this was something
my Grandmother Nonnie used to do.
She would take a little
cube of provolone cheese,
and insert it right into
the center of the meatball.
When I heard that idea, I was like,
"oh my gosh, yes, I must
try that immediately."
And I did and I have to tell you,
it's the only way to eat a meatball.
So, now that is standard
operating procedure in our house.
We must have cheese in a meatball.
We're going to pop them
in a 400 degree oven
until they're cooked all the way through.
That should take them anywhere
from fifteen to twenty minutes,
so while our meatballs are in the oven,
we can get on with boiling our pasta.
Now, the Italians will tell you
that the water you boil your pasta in
should taste like the sea,
meaning it needs to be well salted.
And I definitely agree.
I think salted water really helps
to bring out the flavor of your pasta.
Then when the meatballs are done,
you can go ahead and take
them out of the oven,
and we are going to actually
place them in our sauce
which is the other nice thing you can do
because that will then get all of those
juices from the meatballs marinating
with the tomato sauce,
and it's really a great combo.
But before we do that,
we want to add some freshly chopped basil.
I love to use the fresh basil
in tomato sauce like this
because it just makes your sauce
feel really fresh and gourmet.
It's just a wonderful thing to add.
To serve, we're going to portion out
some spaghetti in some bowls,
top with that beautiful
homemade tomato sauce,
and then I like to add one or two
of those succulent meatballs on top.
Garnish with a little freshly
grated parmesan cheese,
and if you really want to send
this dinner over the edge,
you will serve this with
some homemade garlic bread.
You want to know how to make
homemade garlic bread,
it's really easy to do
and I've shared my recipe
in the description.
And there you have it.
A classic spaghetti and meatball dish
coming from four generations
of Italian women.
I hope you guys give this one a try,
and let us know what you think.
I also hope one day that
my daughters grow up
and put their own spin on this recipe
because then we'll have a
Five-Generation Spaghetti
and Meatball recipe.
That will really be something to see.
Alright you guys, I will
see you back here next week
when we're going to bring back
the Real-Time recipe.
I'm going to show you how to put
dinner on the table in
fifteen minutes or less.
I'll see you then. Bye!
(lively Italian music)
