Meatballs & Rigatoni with Red Hot Tomato Sauce

One of my favorite foods. Ever. Seriously, these meatballs are perfection, mouth-watering. I don't love big chunks of meat, but I could eat these everyday. They are perfect for whatever meatball recipe you are making, Italian, Swedish, Sweet and Sour . . . you'll never be sad that you took the extra time to whip them up. Not ever. And the marinara sauce is the best I've ever had. It's simple and a tad spicy - just the way I like it.

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Meatballs

Ingredients:

2 slices bread, crusts removed and cut into pieces
3 sm. Cloves garlic, minced
½ lb. ground beef
fresh parsley
½ lb. ground pork
zest of ½ lemon
¾ tsp. salt
1 Tb. olive oil
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ cup milk
½ med. Onion, finely chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten

Instructions:

Place bread in bowl. Pour milk over it.
In another bowl, mix veal and pork. Add onion, garlic, lemon, parsley. Add salt, pepper. Mix well.
Mash bread mixture to form paste and add meat mixture. Mix and add egg. Combine well.
Cover with plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour. Heat oven to 350.
Form mixture into 12-16 1 ½” balls.
Heat ½ Tb. oil in skillet over med. Sauté meatballs till brown. Place in oven to finish cooking about 20 min.


Rigatoni & Red Hot Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Tb. olive oil
1 med. onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 qt. tomatoes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (adjust to taste)
1 tsp. fresh basil, chopped
1 - 1 1/2 lbs. rigatoni (or penne) noodles
Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Heat oil and saute onion and garlic. Add tomatoes, salt, and peppers. Bring to boil, turn down heat, and let simmer until thickened (the secret to amazing marinara sauce, simmer. simmer. simmer). Add basil.

Cook noodles according to package directions.

Add meatballs to sauce and serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese over noodles.