My favorite Spaghetti dish is simply old school Spaghetti and Meatballs! Here is a wonderful recipe from www.Epicurious.com:
(image from www.Epicurious.com, photo by: Romulo Yanes)Spaghetti and Meatballs
Gourmet, January 2009
by Maggie Ruggiero
Yield: Makes 12 to 16 servings
Active time: 2 hr
Total time: 3 hr
A heaping platter of spaghetti and meatballs evokes a feeling of comfort—perfect for a family get-together. The stars of this dish are the meatballs, of course, and they don't disappoint—lots of garlic and Parmigiano-Reggiano give them a robust flavor that stands up to the hearty tomato sauce.
Ingredients:
For tomato sauce:
6 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes in juice (preferably San Marzano)
2 medium onions, chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
For meatballs:
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
10 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 cups torn day-old Italian bread
3 cups whole milk
6 large eggs
2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/4 pound)
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped oregano or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 pounds ground veal
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (not lean)
1 cup olive or vegetable oil
For pasta:
2 pounds dried spaghetti
Accompaniment: grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Equipment: a 12-to 16-quart nonreactive heavy pot or 2 smaller nonreactive pots; a 6-to 8-quart pasta pot with a pasta/steamer insert for cooking spaghetti in 2 batches.
Preparation:
Make sauce:
Drain tomatoes, reserving juice in a large bowl. Crush tomatoes with your hands and add to juice.
Cook onions in oil in pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, 4 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Simmer sauce, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Season with salt.
Make meatballs while sauce simmers:
Cook onions in extra-virgin olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.
Soak bread in milk in another bowl until soft, about 5 minutes. Firmly squeeze bread to remove excess milk, discarding milk.
Stir together cooled onion mixture, bread, eggs, Parmesan, parsley, oregano, lemon zest, 51/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoon pepper until combined. Add meats to bread mixture, gently mixing with your hands until just combined (do not overmix).
Form meat mixture into about 70 (1 1/2-inch) balls with dampened hands, arranging meatballs on 2 large baking sheets or in shallow baking pans.
Heat olive or vegetable oil (1 cup) in a 12-inch heavy skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown meatballs in 4 or 5 batches (without crowding), turning frequently, about 5 minutes per batch. Return to baking sheets.
Add meatballs to sauce and gently simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes. (If pot is not large enough, divide meatballs and sauce between 2 pots.)
Prepare pasta:
Cook spaghetti in 2 batches in pasta insert in boiling salted water (3 tablespoon salt for 6 qt water) until just al dente, draining and tossing each batch with some of sauce in a large serving dish.
Serve with meatballs, remaining sauce, and grated cheese.
Cooks' notes:
•Meatballs can be made and simmered in sauce 5 days ahead and chilled (covered once cool).
•Meatballs with sauce can be frozen in an airtight container or heavy-duty sealable bags up to 3 months.
And for the seafood lovers, here is a tasty recipe for Seafood and Spaghetti, also from Epicurious!
(image from www.Epicurious, photo by: Ditte Isager)Seafood Spaghetti
Gourmet December 2007
Paul Richardson
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Active time: 1 1/4 hr
Total time: 1 1/4 hr (2 1/2 hr if not using a pressure cooker)
Espagueti Frutos del Mar
Hearty with shrimp, mussels, squid, and octopus, this flavor-packed pasta dish gets an extra boost from a bright basil purée drizzled on before serving. True, there's some effort involved in making it, but you can prepare the various elements in stages, and the drama and deliciousness of the result will more than compensate your efforts.
Ingredients:
For octopus
2 pound cleaned frozen octopus, thawed and rinsed
2 cups water
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
For tomato sauce
1 (14- to 15-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice, drained, reserving juice, and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped basil
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
For basil purée
3/4 cup packed basil leaves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
For seafood and pasta
1 pound spaghetti
6 garlic cloves
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound large shrimp in shell, peeled, leaving tail fan attached, and deveined
3/4 pound cultivated mussels, rinsed
3/4 pound baby squid, cleaned, bodies cut into 1/4-inch rounds, and tentacles left whole
Equipment: a pressure cooker
Preparation:
Cook octopus:
Put octopus in pressure cooker with water, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and seal pressure cooker with lid, then cook at high pressure according to manufacturer's instructions 10 minutes. Put pressure cooker in sink (do not remove lid) and run cold water over lid until pressure goes down completely. Remove lid. Transfer octopus to a cutting board, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Cut off and discard head, then cut tentacles into 1-inch pieces.
Make tomato sauce:
Simmer tomatoes with their juice, basil, and oil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, uncovered, stirring and mashing tomatoes occasionally, until thick and reduced to about 3/4 cup, 20 to 25 minutes.
Make basil purée:
Purée basil, oil, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender, scraping down side as necessary, until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl.
Cook pasta and seafood:
Cook spaghetti in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente.
Meanwhile, purée garlic and oil in cleaned blender until smooth. Heat a dry 12-inch heavy skillet (not nonstick) over high heat until hot, 2 to 3 minutes. Add oil mixture, then immediately add octopus, shrimp, and mussels and sauté, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are browned on edges and mussels begin to open, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce and reserved octopus-cooking liquid and cook, stirring, until mussels just open wide and shrimp are just cooked through, about 2 minutes more (discard any unopened mussels). Season with salt and pepper.
Drain pasta and return to pot. Add squid to hot seafood in skillet, stirring to combine, then add to hot pasta and toss to combine (squid will cook as it is being tossed). Serve drizzled with all of basil purée.
Cook's notes:
· If you do not have a pressure cooker, octopus can be simmered in a 4-quart pot with bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 4 cups water, covered, turning occasionally, until tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
· Octopus can be cooked 1 day ahead and chilled, uncovered, until cool, then covered.
· Tomato sauce can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
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