Spaghetti and Meatballs

Source: Serious Eats 2

Ingredients

• 4oz fresh white french bread, crusts removed, roughly torn
• 1/3 cup buttermilk, plus more as needed
• 1 large onion, minced (about 1 1/2 cups), divided
• 12 cloves garlic, finely minced, divided
• 2 ounces grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated, plus more for serving
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves, minced
• 4 teaspoons kosher salt (18 grams)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef (at least 25% fat)
• 1 pound ground pork (at least 25% fat)
• 3 oz pancetta, minced
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• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, pureed in the blender
• Dash of fish sauce
• Dash of shoyu
• 70g spaghetti, for 2 people

Directions

Meat balls

1. In a large bowl, combine torn bread with 1/3 C of buttermilk, tossing to coat. Let stand, tossing occassionally, until bread is completely moist (about 10 min). Mash with a spoon to ensure there are not dry spots
2. Add half of the diced onion, 2/3 of the garlic, 2 oz parmesan, 1/2 C chopped parsley, 2 eggs, salt, 1 tsp dried oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix until thoroughly incorporated.
3. Add in 1/3 of the beef, pork, and pancetta and thoroughly mix until well blended.
4. Add in the rest of the meat and gently mix with your hands until evenly distributed. Avoid mixing more than necessary.
5. Reserve about 6 oz of the meat mixture for the sauce.
6. Preheat broiler and set rack in top position. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Form golf ball sized meat balls (should make at least 16). Broil until the top is nicely browned (about 2-5 minutes)

Sauce

1. Heat a large pot over medium heat and cook onions and garlic until softened. Remove
2. Over high heat cook the reserved meat mixture until no longer pink.
3. Add back the onions & garlic, 1 tsp oregano, salt, pepper, and bring to simmer.
4. Transfer tomato meat sauce to a slow cooker and cook on low heat for 6-10 hours.
5. Gently fold in meatballs for the last 30 minutes of cooking. 
6. Add a dash of fish sauce and shoyu for a little kick of umami and serve with spaghetti and parmesan.

Notes

Cooking the sauce with meat for a long time transforms it from tomato sauce into delicious spaghetti meat sauce. I did 6 hours on low and it was great. I used diced tomatoes, but didn't mash or puree them. Will make again, but puree the tomatoes in a blender until they reach a texture I like. Also, I used a mixer as in the original recipe but I feel like it'll be faster to just make it by hand rather than get the mixer out.