Sunday Supper: Super Simple Spaghetti & Meatballs

With Chianti Classico

When the weather gets nicer, don’t you just want things to get a little simpler? Whether it be shedding the layers of warm clothing or exchanging slow cooked dinners for something that gets you in and out of the kitchen in a hurry, it’s spring and we want the living to be easy.

We were once watching a television interview with a cookbook author who said, “I love cooking, but not if it keeps me from drinking and eating.” Hear, hear. When everyone else is relaxing the back deck with a cocktail, we want to be there too – not slaving over a hot stove, fussing with deglazing this and braising that.

So brings the inspiration, at least in part, for today’s Sunday dinner. Looking for something simple – and kid friendly would be a plus – we looked to Antonella’s pasta sauce – a ready made tomato sauce we were sent not long ago, with the marketers requesting we take it for a spin and offer our thoughts.

It’s a good pasta sauce, and if you are a harried parent rushed for time between school and piano lessons, this ready-made boxed wonder is gluten free and made without preservatives, so will probably fit nicely into your arsenal of quick dinners that are healthy and kid friendly. But, we can never leave well enough alone, so opting for a casual Sunday supper of spaghetti and meatballs, we added a pinch of this and a dash of that to the plain sauce to suit our needs.

It’s almost embarrassing to offer a recipe, but here’s our easy peasy way to boost your store-bought sauce, and get back outside to your cocktail in a jiffy:

Embarrassingly Easy Pumped Up Pasta Sauce

What You Need:

• 1 box of Antonella’s Tomato Sauce
• Olive oil
• 1 cup of chopped red onion
• 3-4 large cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 cup of red wine (we used Chianti)
• 2 dried bay leaves
• A few sprigs of fresh thyme
• A pinch of red pepper flakes, or to taste
• Salt and pepper

 How You Do It:

• Heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat
• Add the olive oil
• When hot, add the onions & saute til translucent, about 5 minute
• Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds

• Add red wine, and stir, scraping up browned bits on the bottom of the pan, and cooking until almost evaporated, 3-5 minutes
• Lower heat to medium-low and pour in Antonella’s pasta sauce
• Add the bay leaves, thyme and chili flakes and let cooked for a few minutes until the sauce is heated through
• Season with S&P to taste
• Reduce the heat to low and add meatballs (recipe below) and simmer until meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes depending on size

And to make sure no one has any fun without us, the best part about this dinner is that you can call in the troops to roll up their sleeves and roll the meatballs.

The Wine Sisters’ Simple Sunday Meatballs

What You Need:

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1 pound spicy or mild Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• Milk
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
• Small dash nutmeg
• 1 large egg, beaten

*additional optional ingredients: diced porcini mushrooms, fresh chili peppers, diced black olives

How You Do It:

• Soak bread crumb in milk until softened
• Combine meats, softened bread crumbs, and the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Mix lightly until well combined, and using your hands gently roll into balls, roughly 2 inches in diameter

(Additional step if you feel like it: in batches, sear off the meatballs a hot pan until browned on the outside, careful not to over crowd the pan)
Drop raw or browned meatballs into sauce, and cook through

Serve spaghetti and meatballs over your favourite pasta with more cheese.

The Wine Sisters Wine Pairing

Castellare di Castellina Chianti Classico, Italy 2012
$19 LCBO 267260
Aromas of dried cherries, purple flowers, blueberry and dried herbs, the palate is very dry with firm tannin and a good balance between black berry fruit like cherry and cassis and savoury notes of mushroom, spice, dried earth and cured meat.

How Did it Work With the Wine?

A classic. There’s a reason Chianti has a special place in the hearts of Italian-Canadians, everywhere. Tomato based dishes like classic pizza, pasta and tomato sauce or chicken cacciatore are brilliant with Sangiovese (the grape of Chianti), because the savoury flavours of the wine match the herbaceous flavours of the sauces, and the natural heightened acidity of the Sangiovese stands up to the acidity of the tomato.