Spaghetti and Meatballs with Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe with Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

By Irvin Lin

Don’t be intimidated by this long list of ingredients, as this is easy spaghetti and meatball recipe is mostly “walk away” time with the sauce and meatballs cooking in the oven. The oven roasting concentrates the tomato sauce flavor and gives it a touch of roasting smokiness. Because tomatoes aren’t in season in the wintertime, I added a can of tomato paste to give it a little more flavor but if tomatoes are in season, taste the sauce first to see if you need the paste. You might not! The addition of fish sauce to the recipe is going to sound weird but trust me when I say that you don’t taste it at all. What you do get is a deeper umami savory flavor from the fish sauce. If you don’t have fish sauce, just skip that part but if you have some floating in the back of your fridge, pull it out and try it. You’ll be surprised at how much it adds to the tomato sauce.

Adapted from Chuck’s Day Off by Chuck Hughes

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce
2 1/2 lbs (8-10 medium size) Roma tomatoes
2 medium yellow onions
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
Black pepper, fresh cracked
1 medium head of garlic
1/2 bunch of fresh basil
6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional, see headnote above)

Meatballs
1/2 cup panko crumbs or bread crumbs
1/4 cup whole milk
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground veal
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 bunch fresh basil, chopped
1/2 bunch fresh oregano, chopped
1 bunch fresh chives, chopped
1/2 cup finely grated Kerrygold Dubliner, Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, fresh cracked
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

For Serving
1 1/2 lb spaghetti
fresh grated Kerrygold Dubliner, Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
finely chopped parsley

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise. Peel and quarter the onions. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. In the meanwhile, cut the top off of the head of garlic and place it in the middle of a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the garlic head then sprinkle generously with kosher salt and pepper. Fold the foil over garlic and seal tightly. Once the 30 minutes are up, open up the oven and place the garlic in the middle of the pan (moving some of the tomatoes and onions aside to make room). Close the oven door and continue to roast for 30-45 minutes more (a total of 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes) or until the tomatoes start to look dry and wrinkly on top and onion quarts look soft.

2. While the tomatoes, onions and garlic are roasting, make the meatballs by placing the panko crumbs and milk in a large mixing bowl. Let the crumbs soak the milk in, then add the beef, pork and veal. Using your hands mix the bread crumbs with the meat together until evenly distributed. Add the shallots, garlic, herbs, cheese, mustard, paprika, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix with your hands until everything is evenly distributed. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture and form a meatball about the size of a golf ball. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and continue to form meatballs, until you’ve used up all the meat mixture. You should have about 50-60 meatballs on two rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle each the meatballs with the olive oil, about two tablespoons per baking sheet. Once the tomatoes are done roasting, remove from the oven and place the meatballs in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.

3. Let the tomatoes, onions and garlic cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes, then peel the tomatoes and place them in food processor or blender. Add the onions to the processor. Then remove the garlic head from the foil and squeeze the roasted garlic from the skin into the processor. Place the fresh basil in the processor and then puree the entire mixture on high speed until smooth. Empty the entire content of the sauce in a large pan on the stove. Add the tomato paste, dry red wine and dried herbs, red pepper flakes and fish sauce to the puree and heat on medium heat, stirring. Taste and add some salt and pepper to taste. Let the sauce simmer on low heat covered until the meatballs are done.

4. Once the meatballs are done, remove them from the oven and using tongs, move the balls to the sauce. Stir to cover the meatballs and cover again to let simmer. Boil a pot of salty water (taste the water, it should be as salty as the ocean) and make the spaghetti as per the instructions on the package. Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain and serve immediately with the sauce and meatballs. Garnish with grated cheese and parsley.

Serves 6 people.