2018_September-October.indd

the Home Cooking issue

Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR THE MEATBALLS: 8 ounces ground pork 8 ounces ground beef 1

Once Joe made his periodic Pasta Proclamation, the performance commenced with his traditional shopping list. He’d check the spice rack for the proper season- ings — oregano, basil, pepper, a few cloves of garlic. He’d ransack the fridge crisper for various necessary vegetables. Onions and peppers were non-negotiable; lemons, tomatoes and parsley if he had time to make salad. After a quick pantry inventory for canned goods (tomato sauce and paste), he’d make two notes for the butcher section (ground beef, ground pork) and set out on a solo grocery excursion. He’d return with a festive air, a few more sacks than he needed and a big bottle of red wine (a rare commodity in the house). Once he unpacked and started cooking, it was best to keep your hands and feet away from the action. Usually not much of a kitchen guy, Joe would spend a few hours turning the kitchen into a zone of pure chaos. Every mixing bowl in the joint moved to the countertop.The cutting board clattered with the clunk of a not-so-sharp “big knife.” He worked his tall Spaghetti Pot to get onions sautéed to “lazy” stage, his tomato paste browned like a roux, and trace bits of garlic suffused before adding the thinner tomato sauce.

That done, he’d mix the ground meats together with some more onion, a few raw eggs, undisclosed herbs and two kinds of bread crumbs (packaged Italian and fresh chunks of stale sandwich loaf ).He delicately rolled pinches of the mixture into spheres the size of golf balls, then carefully broiled them on all sides before dunking them in the pot. For the better part of a day, the kitchen would be Joe’s sole domain. If he was in the mood for vegetables, he’d make a version of his neighbor’s tabbouli, his take on this treat from his childhood in the old neighborhood. If any of the kids asked to help (to snack or maybe learn), he’d shoo us away, and we’d sneak back to watch from a safe distance. Mama seemed to relish her banishment from the kitchen, and smiled, knowing that this meal,with all its ritual and precision,was Joe’s rare chance to have total control in the kitchen. To taste exactly what he wanted to taste and tell the old stories he needed to tell. Later that evening, we’d dig into heaping piles of steaming pasta and remember why this was one of our favorite dishes. Joe would serve each plate with a flourish, adding an extra meatball if he felt you were deserving (or hadn’t already snuck three from the pot). He’d tell the story of how his mother Mary made her sauce. He’d tell old Birmingham family stories in between sips of wine and third servings — about family members we’d never meet or the time his aunt’s pressure cooker exploded. When Joe took over the stove, it was dinner and a show, and we savored the spectacle, even knowing that us kids would have to clean up the mess. Given the stories and the sauce, it was always well worth it. A few times a year, I take down my own favorite spaghetti pot (a hulking, two-burner Magnalite) and make up my own red sauce, which bears almost no resemblance to Joe’s. No meatballs, whole tomatoes, green onions, and what he would consider a scandalous amount of garlic. I feed my friends, tell a few Joe stories, then freeze the rest in quarts for later. As I scrape out the last of it, I always leave a taste, look up at Joe’s Spaghetti Pot and grin at his displeasure. “It’s not Italian,” I think, “but it’ll have to do.”

large egg, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced 1 teaspoon dried oregano 3 tablespoons bread crumbs 1 teaspoon salt Freshly ground black pepper FOR THE SAUCE: 1 onion, peeled and halved 2 garlic cloves, peeled 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon Rouses Sicilian extra-virgin olive oil 2 cups canned tomatoes, puréed Pinch of sugar Salt and freshly ground black pepper ½ cup whole milk 1 pound spaghetti, cooked to taste HOW TO PREP In a large bowl, combine pork, beef, egg, Par- mesan, garlic, oregano, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Use your hands to lightly combine all ingredients, handling the mixture gently and as little as possible. Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Oil hands lightly so that meat mixture doesn’t stick to them. Shape heaping teaspoonfuls of the meat mixture into 1-inch balls; place the formed meatballs on the plas- tic and refrigerate. Combine onion, garlic and oregano in a food processor; purée until smooth. Combine but- ter and oil in a large, deep pan over low heat. When the butter has melted, add the onion and garlic mixture to the pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for around 10 minutes, but do not brown the mixture. Add the puréed canned to- matoes and 2 cups of water to the pan. Season with sugar. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer the sauce for 10 minutes, then add the milk, bringing the sauce back to a simmer. Gen- tly drop in the meatballs, one by one, so that they do not break. Make sure the meatballs are completely submerged in the sauce. Do not stir the contents of the pan. Cover the pan partially with a lid and let simmer for 20 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings if needed. Place cooked, warm pasta in a large serving bowl. Pour most of the sauce (reserv- ing the meatballs) over the pasta, and toss to combine. Top the pasta and sauce with the meatballs, and serve.

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY

SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018