Old World Spagetti and Meat Balls

First of all I'll have to apologize for this post, I didn't have my camera handy during the making process of this dish, but hopefully I'll be able to come back with some of those.

So this is a recipe that has been passed down for generations in my family with each person making their own little change here and there, but the memories this dish brings back are just astounding. This is a more savory sause rather than sweet which is the way I like it. Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

9 cloves garlic

1 good sized yellow onion

1 lb 85/15 ground beef

1 large egg (more if necessary to keep beef together)

1 8 oz can tomato paste

2 15 oz cans tomato sause (no added seasonings)

2 T extra virgin olive oil

2 T butter

1 1/2 T dried basil, oregano, parsley, italian seasoning

2 bay leaves

dash salt and pepper

2 T parmesan cheese

Sause:

In a large stock pot, throw in 3/4 of the onion diced small and 6 cloves of garlic minced. Add a drizzle of olive oil. Add a sprinkle of salt and saute until the onions are nice and translucent. Add 3/4 of the tomato paste and mix in with the garlic briefly. Then add the two cans of tomato sause followed by one of the tomato sause cans worth of water. Stir to combine. Add the bay leaf, basil, oregano, and parsley. Stir everything in and then cover and bring to a very low simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 1.5 hours. In the mean time make the meat balls. After the 1.5 hours have expired and the meat balls are ready add them gently to the sause and submerge in the sause. Don't stir the sause for an hour. After that go ahead and stir and allow to finish simmering. The longer the sause simmers the better. And this is one sause that gets better as a left over as well. Enjoy.

Meat Balls:

In a bowl combine the ground beef, italian seasoning, egg, cheese, remaining garlic minced and remaining 1/4 of diced onion. combine into beef well and form into the size ball that you desire. About fifteen minutes before the first 1.5 hours is over drizzle in a touch of olive oil into a skillet and add the butter. Over a medium heat melt the butter and add the meat balls. You only want to brown each side not cook the meat balls all the way through. When both sides are browned, gently remove from the skillet and add to the sause. Submerge the meat balls into the sause and allow the meat balls to finish cooking in the sause. After about an hour it is ok to start gently stirring the sause until it is done.

Plating:

Serve over some al-dente pasta of your choice. I usually do two meat balls per plate with a healthy amount of sause topped with some fresh grated parmesan cheese and a nice hunk of crusty bread. I really hope you guys enjoy this dish!