Thanks to my mom and grandmother, I’ve learned so much about the art of making great meatballs. The one important thing that they both told me was not to overwork the meat when adding the flavorings. Well, keeping that in mind, I went one better. I concluded that if you mix all the wet ingredients with the spices first, then add in the meat, there is less likelihood of over-mixing. This is my Pappardelle With Meatballs. 

Prep Time: 30 minutes (time includes making the meatballs and dicing the onions and garlic for the sauce)
Cook Time for the Meatballs: 25 minutes
Cook Time for the Tomato Sauce: 45 minutes (cooking time for the meatballs included in this time)
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yields: 4 servings (12 meatballs used for 4 servings. See notes).
Equipment: 2 rimmed baking sheet pans lined with parchment paper, 1 (6-quart) Dutch oven with lid, 1 (6-quart) saucepot,  2 large mixing bowls, colander, cookie-dough scoop, olive oil cooking spray

Ingredients for the Meatballs:
olive oil cooking spray
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage, bulk-style
1 pound of ground chicken
1/4 cup of Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup of fresh store-bought basil pesto (store-bought fresh pesto can be found in the refrigerated section where you find the fresh pasta and sauces)
1/4 cup of  Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly-grated
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, optional
1 teaspoon of black pepper, freshly-ground
1 cup of plain Panko breadcrumbs
1/2 a cup of seasoned Italian breadcrumbs
3 cloves of garlic, freshly-grated
2 large eggs, beaten
5 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup of whole milk ricotta cheese, room temperature
1 cup of half-and-half (start with 3/4 cup until you get the consistency of wet sand)

Ingredients for the Tomato Sauce:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper, freshly-ground
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1 tablespoon of light brown sugar
1 cup of chicken broth, Unsalted
1 (28-ounce) can of San Marzano whole tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes
1 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly-grated for the pasta
1/4 cup of fresh basil, julienned
Garnish:
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly-grated

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Start in a large mixing bowl by adding all the ingredients that will flavor the meat, and mix to combine. The flavoring mixture needs to have the consistency of wet sand, as shown in the picture above.

In another large mixing bowl, add the ground chicken (a mixture of dark and white meat) and the sweet Italian sausage, and mix to combine. Next, add the flavoring mixture to the ground meat. Using a fork, evenly distribute the flavoring mixture throughout the meat. It does take a minute. This method ensures there’s no chance the meat ends up too compacted, which prevents a tough meatball.

To ensure the meatballs are the same size, use a large cookie-dough scoop. This yielded about 22 golf-size meatballs. On two rimmed baking sheet pans lined with parchment paper, lightly spray olive oil cooking spray. Scoop out the meatball mixture and roll it into golf-size meatballs. Arrange the meatballs at least 1 1/2 inches apart. Spray the tops of the meatballs with a little olive oil cooking spray to ensure they brown nicely. Bake for 25 minutes.

In the meantime, in a large saucepot over medium heat, add olive oil and diced onions. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions become translucent, 3-5 minutes. To the onions, add the minced garlic, tomato paste, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, and fresh-ground black pepper. Continue stirring, and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Next, add the chicken broth. Let that come to a bubble and simmer for a couple of minutes before adding the crushed and whole tomatoes. Using the back of a wooden spoon, break up the whole tomatoes. Next, add brown sugar and stir to combine. Bring the sauce up to a bubble, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally.

Once the meatballs come out of the oven, transfer them to the sauce and let everything simmer together on medium-low heat for another 45 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the fresh julienned basil, and gently stir to combine. Cover to keep warm. After 45 minutes, start cooking the pasta.

In a large saucepot of boiling salted water, drop the pasta.

I love to use Pappardelle for this dish. The wide ribbons of pasta have so much more surface area for the sauce to adhere to. Follow the cooking instructions. Drain the pasta well.  Add a cup of freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Toss the cheese through the pasta very gently, so all those ribbons get coated well. Then add a couple of ladles of tomato sauce, and toss to combine. What you are witnessing is the cheese sticking to the pasta, and the sauce sticks to the cheese. Win-Win!

Finally, I finish by ladling the meatballs on top with a bit more sauce and a little more cheese. Serve with some crusty cheese bread and garnish with fresh basil.

There you have it, my Pappardelle With Meatballs.

Notes:
1) Tip: Use the cooking spray (a light spritz) to lubricate the cookie-dough scoop every so often. This will ensure the easy release of the meat mixture.

2) This recipe yields 22 golf-size meatballs. I’m serving three meatballs per dish. The rest can be frozen in an air-tight baggie.

3) Linda Lou Hamel is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value are important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through a preferred online nutritional calculator of your choice. Calories and values can vary depending on the brands you choose.

https://lindalouhamel.com/2019/07/10/summer-time-flowers-and-herbs/

https://lindalouhamel.com/2018/08/12/homemade-spaghettios-with-meatballs/