I love this recipe. The meatballs are soft and the sauce is a little sweet from the onions, a perfect combination. The sauce starts with Maracella Hazen's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter. I tripled her recipe and the measurements may be a little different than hers but still the same ingredients until the end when I'm saucing the pasta. You could easily use spaghetti but I just love bucatini. It just absorbs the sauce so wełl.. perfection. This is a great meal anytime of the year but loving it on this cool night in Texas.
Ingredients
For the Tomato Sauce
- 6 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, , cut up and their juices
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 2 medium onions
- salt
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb italian sausage (I used spicy hot)
- 3 packed cups large french bread cubes
- 1/4 milk
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cloves garlic chopped or grated
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
For the Sauce
- I made this sauce in the Instant Pot but you can also make it on the stove top. Either way, I cook the sauce for about 45 minutes. Place all of the ingredients in your Instant Pot with a little salt. I set it for 45 minutes. If you are using a saucepan, cook it at a very low simmer stirring from time to time. If using the Instant Pot, when you reached the completed time, do the quick release of the steam, then remove the lid and check for salt. If you are cooking on the stove top, the same, after about 45 minutes and the fat floats free from the tomato taste and correct for salt.
For the Meatballs
- Preheat your oven to 375. Place your ground meats in a large bowl.
- Cube your bread and place in a separate bowl along with the 1/4 cup milk pressing down to soak all the bread. Let the bread cubes and milk sit for a few minutes to get soft.
- After your bread has softened, add the eggs.
- Combine the eggs with the milk and pour over your ground meats. Add your garlic, salt and pepper, parsley, oregano, grated parmesan cheese to your meats, bread and egg mixture.
- Mix with your hands or a rubber spatula until well combined. The mixture is going to be soft, but not too soft to form into your meatballs. If you feel it may be too loose, add a little bread crumbs.
- Roll your meatballs, small, medium or large, whatever your preference is and place on a sheet pan. Place in the preheated oven and cook for about 25 minutes.
- after the 25 minutes, remove from the oven.
- Put the meatballs in the sauce, pushing down to cover. If using the Instant Pot, set for 10 minutes, then do a quick release of pressure to release the steam. If you are cooking on the stove top, add your meatballs to the sauce and simmer for about 20 minutes.
For the bucatini, saucing and plating
- Heat a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add your pasta, stirring to make sure it does not stick together. Cook according to directions or about 12 minutes. I just always taste because I don't like a pasta that is not soft.
- Heat about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Add a clove chopped garlic and about 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes.
- Add about 2 ladle's of sauce along with 1 ladle of pasta water. Add your pasta and toss around to thoroughly coat it. Let it cook for about a minute to absorb some of the sauce.
- Place the pasta on the serving plates, add more sauce and meatballs. Serve with a green salad and garlic bread! A perfect dinner!
