A Brief Interlude on Red Sauce and Meatballs

I got asked to post this somewhere and frankly - this is it. My slap your Italian grandma meatballs and red sauce. (A note about beer pairings at the end just because.. it is a homebrewing site after all.)

For enough meatballs and saucefor 6 unhealthy portions

Meatballs

2 slices white sandwich bread, pulsed into fresh bread crumbs

1/3 c. Half & Half

1/2 c. Parmesan (not the green can for f's sake)

1/3 bunch Flat leaf parsley, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1 tbsp kosher salt

2 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper

2 tsp dried Oregano

1 lb. 90-10 Ground Beef

1 lb. Ground Pork

1 lb. Ground Veal

2 eggs

Enough olive oil and vegetable oil to cover a pan bottom by 1/3"

Sauce

Olive oil, enough

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup Red wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 28oz cans Whole Tomatoes, blended via immersion blender or Crushed Tomatoes

1/2 cup red wine

2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tbsp oregano

For the Meatballs

1. Combine the bread crumbs and half&half into a soft gooey mass. Add the other seasonings and allow to site for 10 minutes for full absorbtion. (This is a panade - key to juicy meatballs)
2. Add the 3 meats to the panade and mix to throughly combine, but don't crush the meat. Cold water helps to keep your hands less sticky.
3. Quickly work the meat into 1/2" balls that aren't mega compressed. Put on a plate
4. After forming your balls, toss them in the fridge to cool down while making the sauce.

For the Sauce

1. In a dutch oven or other big pot, saute the onion with oil and salt until translucent (7-10 minutes). Add the garlic and stir until fragrant (30 seconds)
2. Add the intial wine dose and allow to reduce until the onions are completely soften and the wine is syrupy.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Simmer over medium heat and season with salt and pepper.
4. Keep bubbling for the next step.

Back to the Meatballs

1. Heat olive oil and vegetable oil till shimmering in a saute pan. Add individual meatballs - work in batches, the whole thing should take 4 batches, roughly. Brown on each side to get rid of any meaty pinkness. 
2. Remove the meatballs directly to the sauce. 
3. After all the meatballs are done browning - cook your pasta (you had pasta water going, right?)
4. Once the pasta's done, your meatballs should be good too. 
5. In a bowl, dish the spaghetti and ladle over the sauce. Add 5-6 meatballs per bowl and douse in cheese and fresh chopped parsley.
6. Enjoy with a new red wine, malty doppelbock or Flemish Red. Realise the Italians would make fun of us for combining our meatballs and pasta and enjoy them anyway.

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