Spaghetti meatballs

When we were at the Four Seasons Westlake Village we had dinner at a local Italian at Westlake. There we had classic spaghetti meatballs, this dish was very tasty after which I started making this dish myself. It’s a simple dish to make.

• 500 gr. minced veal
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Breadcrumbs
• Thyme
• Basil
• Italian seasoning
• Dried oregano
• 1 egg
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 dried chili
• 2 cans of tomato
• Dash of balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Spaghetti
• Possible: Parmesan cheese

Chop the thyme very finely, preferably without the stems.

Combine the egg, breadcrumbs, Dijon mustard, 1 crushed clove of garlic, thyme, oregano and Italian herbs in a large bowl and add the minced meat.

Knead the minced meat with the spices until it has become a substance and everything has mixed well. Divide the minced meat into four parts and make each part into 6 equal meatballs. This will make 24 evenly shaped meatballs.

Sprinkle the meatballs with a little olive oil and shake the meatballs so that each side is coated with the olive oil. Place the minced meat in the refrigerator until needed.

Chop an onion and fry it in a little olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add two finely chopped garlic cloves and very finely chopped dried chilli. Stir well until the garlic has the same translucent color as the onion.

Add the basil and stir to combine. Cut the canned tomatoes into smaller pieces and add them together with the tomato puree from the same can. Stir well and reduce the heat.

Pour some balsamic vinegar into the sauce and stir it into the sauce. Add some Italian seasoning if desired.

Fry the meatballs in butter over medium-high heat. Make sure the balls turn a nice brown color.

Add the fried meatballs to the sauce and stir well. Make sure the sauce stays at a boil.

Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions. Drain the spaghetti and stir it into the sauce. If necessary, add some of the boiled spaghetti water to thin the sauce slightly, but this is usually not necessary.

When the spaghetti and sauce are well mixed, spoon the spaghetti with sauce onto preheated plates, the meatballs will be on top and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese if desired. So for 4 people there are 6 meatballs per person. You can choose to serve fewer meatballs per person.

Put some fresh basil on top of the dish.

Serve with a Chianti Classico.