SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Tomato sauce:
• Heat oil in a casserole. Add garlic and stir until lightly golden. Then add the crushed tomatoes with their juice, 2 tomato cans of water, the ground pepper, chopped parsley, chopped fresh basil and salt. Then taste it. If it seems a little acidic, add a little sugar
• Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.
• Meatballs:
• In a bowl mix together the milk and egg. Add mixture to bowl of bread cubes. Toss to coat.
• Let the bread stand for 15 minutes.
• Mash the bread cubes and add to a 1 pound of ground beef, grated Romano, garlic, and parsley. Mix together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• With wet hands form walnut size balls. Brown the meatballs lightly in olive oil. Add meatballs to 6 cups sauce bubbling in pot. Simmer 45 minutes.
• Cook the spaghetti in boiling, salted water for the length of time specified on the box. Drain spaghetti by lifting it out of its cooking pot in a strainer/colander, pour the water out of the pot, transfer some cooked spaghetti from strainer/colander to pot in which it was cooked.
• Ladle some sauce over pasta. Stir to coat. Add a knob of butter and toss again. Add meatballs and toss. Plate the pasta on 4 serving plates or pasta bowls. Add more sauce on top. Serve immediately with a block of Parmigiano-Reggiano and a cheese grater on the side.
• Suggested wine: Montevina Barbera, Amador County, 1994