Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs

Our Classic Spaghetti and Meatball recipe is the best! The meatballs are loaded with flavor finished off in a tomato sauce and are super tender and juicy! This Classic Spaghetti and Meatball recipe is a household favorite and don’t tell the boys but they are loaded with hidden vegetables!

Tips for Making Spaghetti and Meatballs

• A classic spaghetti noodle is the best pasta to serve with the meatballs.
• We prefer our meatballs to be made with ground beef. However, you could sub the beef for pork or do a half and half.
• This recipe calls for presto. We put up pesto every summer and you can read how we do it over on our Go-To Pesto Recipe. However, if you don’t have pesto put up you could buy store bought.
• We love our Cuisinart 11 cup Food Processor for this dish.

Ingredient List

Pacheco Beef Ground Beef
Onion
Garlic, minced
Pesto
Breadcrumbs
Egg
Parmesan
Carrots
Celery
Diced tomatoes
Tomato paste
Salt and Pepper 

How to Make the Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs

Begin by coating the skillet with olive oil. Sauté half a medium onion. Add the 1 tbsp of tomato paste and 2 cloves of the garlic and cook down for a minute or two. Once they are cooked down, remove from skillet and place in a bowl to combine with the ground beef for the meatballs.

Place the other half of the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in a food processor and puree.

To make the meatballs, combine the Pacheco Beef ground beef, half of the pesto and sautéed onions, breadcrumbs, egg, and parmesan.  Then form meatballs about the size of an egg  and you will end up with about twelve meatballs.

Using the same pot that you used to soften the onions brown the meatballs in batches. Once the meatballs are browned, remove them to a plate.

Next add your puree of carrots, onion and celery in the same pot and don’t worry with scraping out the bits of meatballs left, as it will only give the puree more flavor.

Stir the puree to deglaze the pan and cook down until the vegetables stick to the pan and add 3 tbsp of tomato paste. Cook 1-2 minutes.

Then add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir and let come to a simmer. Add the remainder of the pesto.

Then add the meatballs back in the pot and cook for 10 minutes or so, until the meatballs are done.

Serve over your pasta of choice and enjoy!

Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs

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Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 4 tbsp pesto
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 egg
• 1 medium onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 carrots peeled
• 2 celery
• 2 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

 

• Begin by coating the skillet with olive oil. Sauté half a medium onion. Add the 1 tbsp of tomato paste and 2 cloves of the garlic and cook down for a minute or two. Once they are cooked down remove from skillet and place in a bowl to combine with the ground beef for the meatballs. 
• To make the meatballs, combine the ground beef, half of the pesto and sautéed onions, breadcrumbs, egg, and parmesan.  Then form meatballs about the size of an egg and you will end up with about twelve meatballs.
• Add your puree of carrots, onion, and celery in the same pot and don’t worry about scraping out the bits of meatballs left, as it will only give the puree more flavor. 
• Stir the puree to deglaze the pan and cook down until the vegetables stick to the pan and then add 3 tbsp of tomato paste. Cook 1-2 minutes.
• Then add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Stir and let come to a simmer. Add the remainder of the pesto. 
• Then add the meatballs back in the pot and cook for 10 minutes or so until the meatballs are done. 
• Serve over your pasta of choice and enjoy! 

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!