Spaghetti and Meatballs

Tonight, I made my second attempt at ma paw dofu with a recipe from The Chinese Kitchen: Recipes, Techniques, Ingredients, History, and Memories. (The first time is mercifully undocumented except for a post-it on that page in my cookbook.) The history about ma paw dofu is that is it named for the pockmarked woman who originally came up with this recipe and served it roadside. This is a classic Szechuan dish. Although I didn't add in the szechuan peppercorns in the recipe, I did add in some of dad's famed pepper sauce. The taste was quite spot on as I remember it in restaurants, but just not as rich as I was hoping. I bet it would be much improved if I used some nice concentrated pork stock instead of the recipe-recommended chicken stock.

Also, in a fit of preparation, I put a big pot of tomato sauce on to simmer the night away, loaded up with big fat meatballs and tasty sweet Italian sausage. This is one recipe that always reminds me of my childhood.

My godparents lived next door to my family when I was growing up. They were New York Italians. I think back now and discover that I didn't truly understand the culinary implications. My godmother is the one who introduced me to fresh mozzerella, perfect with a little salt sprinkled on it. Even as an adult now, I still remember the first time she pointed out the white blobs floating in water at the Walbaum's.

Anyway, as I was saying about my meatballs. My recipe for meatballs is descended from my godfather's. They are soft and juicy, the way that meatballs should be. My meatballs from tonight are enormous, probably a good three inches in diameter. Now that's a meatball! (Okay, I just pulled out my architect's scale, and I think they are really 2 1/2 inches. Still nothing to sneer at.) J just came in and saw me with my scale and now he thinks I am really bizarre. I was just trying to be accurate.

Anyway, here is how I make my simple sauce (some might call it gravy) with meatballs and sausage.

Ingredients
- Four links sweet Italian sausage
- 2 lbs ground beef (we use ground sirloin)
- 1 lb ground pork (optional!)
- 2 eggs
- 2 pieces of white bread
- 2 28 oz cans of tomatoes
- thyme
- basil
- s+p

Note: I am lazy so I have been using dried basil. However, my godfather always took pieces of basil and stacked them, wrapped them in foil, and put them in the freezer. I do the same thing with basil and rosemary and it works quite well!

1. Put tomates on to simmer in a large pot.
2. Brown sausages in a pan. Cut into large pieces and drop into the sauce.
3. Make meatballs by mixing ground beef, ground pork, eggs, thyme, basil, pepper, and bread soaked in water, squeezed out, and then shredded.
4. Mix with hands to distribute spices.
5. Form into tasty meatballs. Big ones taste better!
6. Cook meatballs. I use a square 9x9 glass container with paper towels underneath and on top. Then I pop them into the microwave for about 8-10 minutes. Usually I need two rounds. If you squeeze too many meatballs in at once, they don't cook on all sides and remain too squishy for the pot. If you skip this step and put the meatballs straight into the sauce, they will fall apart. I also tried putting them in the oven on a rack once and they fell through. That was quite a disappointing mess. I tried skillet frying them too but they sat there too heavy and cracked down the middle.
7. Add meatballs to sauce.
8. Add thyme, basil, and pepper to sauce. Simmer til you go to bed!
9. After the sauce has cooked down, taste. Sometimes it just doesn't taste rich enough. Then I add a 1/2 teaspoon (or so) of Better than Bouillon chicken bouillon.

It's a simple sauce, nothing special. Now the meat-sausage ragu I make from Biba's A Taste of Italy, now that is a special recipe. Maybe one day, I will share it with you. Or you could buy it and try it yourself.