quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

PopPop’s spaghetti and meatballs serves 6

A great meal! Worth the time and effort!

This is a Sunday thing. Nothing quick about it.

You might want to double or triple or quadruple the recipe and put the leftovers in zip-loc bags for fast meals during the week. We put up some bags with just sauce so we can use it for pizza or chicken parmesan, etc. (Just break up the sauce before unzipping the bag and dump it in a small pot with a little water in the bottom and heat it up.)

The Sauce

2 Tbsp. good olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

Salt & Pepper

1 Tbsp. dried basil

1 Teaspoon dried oregano

2 Tbsp. dried parsley

1 small dried bay leaf

½ tsp. ground thyme

1 (6oz) can tomato paste

1 Large Can (32 oz.) crushed Tomatoes. I like Progresso

1 Pound of spaghetti or pasta of choice

Heat up the olive oil in pot big enough to hold everything. I try to use one with the thickest bottom I have. If you only have thin bottoms, put a baking pan or a big frying pan on the burner then the pot. This will help keep the sauce from sticking. Add the garlic and onion. Sauté until translucent. Add the paste, tomatoes and herbs. Bring to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn mixture down to a simmer. Make the meatballs and drop into the sauce as you get them formed. Do not stir for the first 10- 15 minutes or until the meatballs begin to firm up.

Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 lb. ground pork or veal. If you can’t get just a half a pound, go with a pound. What the hell?

Dash of salt

Dash of pepper

1 Tbsp. dried parsley

2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 Egg

1 Cup bread crumbs

a couple of dashes of red wine

1/3 cup water

Mix all the ingredients together with your hands. You might want to wear rubber gloves or plastic bags. Yeh, plastic bags. Shape into golf ball sized balls, and gently drop into the simmering sauce. You can substitute or add Italian sausage to the sauce. I would suggest browning the sausage in a pan a little bit before adding to the sauce. You don’t have to, but poppop does.

Continue to cook for 2-3 hours over very low heat, stirring every 10 min. or so and adding extra water as needed if it gets too thick. Be sure to stir everything up off the bottom so it doesn’t stick (it will want to). I use a big Teflon pancake turner and go slow and easy getting all the solids that have settled to the bottom since the last stir. Go easy so you don’t bust up the meatballs. When the sauce is done you might want to add a little sugar. The parsley usually takes the tartness out of the tomatoes, but if it still has a bite to it a little sugar will solve it. Use the pasta of your choice, I prefer penne or linguine. Serve over the pasta cooked al dente, with parmesan cheese at the table.

SERVE IT UP!!! With some salad, crusty Italian bread and some good Chianti or Sangiovese.