Spaghetti and Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Spaghetti and Meatballs was my absolute favorite meal as a little girl.  I chose it as my birthday meal every year.  If I was asked what I wanted for dinner, spaghetti and meatballs was the predictable answer.

Decades later, I found myself with a daughter who felt the same way.  On birthdays and special occasions when she made our dinner selection, spaghetti and meatballs was at the top of her wish list.  It seemed fitting.  It also seemed like the best reason of all to perfect a homemade spaghetti and meatballs recipe.

The spaghetti sauce was the easy part.  It didn’t take long to create that thick, rich tomato sauce to cling to the spaghetti noodles.  The meatballs were another story.

I made several different recipes.  They were okay, but none of them seemed worthy of a celebration.  They were often under seasoned or slightly dry.  That simply wouldn’t do.

I experimented with using different blends of ground meat.  I tried using less bread crumbs or a fine cracker meal.  Again, I found myself feeling like they were okay, but not great.

After dozens of batches of meatballs that were perfectly edible, but not remarkable, I finally hit the recipe jackpot.  Suddenly, we had a meatball recipe that was delicious enough for any celebration.  In fact, we had a meatball recipe scrumptious enough to actively seek out a reason to hold a celebration.

The secret was simple. I decided to add Italian sausage to the mix.  I always incorporate Italian sausage into the ground beef that I use in my cast iron skillet meatloaf recipe. The combination results in a wonderfully seasoned, delicious meatloaf.  Because the Italian sausage is well seasoned and a bit fattier than the ground beef, it creates a delicious mix that resists drying out.

I also decided to substitute old fashioned oats for the breadcrumbs usually called for in meatball recipes.  I find that the oats do a great job of binding the meatballs together without drying them out.  It doesn’t affect the flavor or texture while holding everything together deliciously.

To up the ante, I also decided to tuck a tiny cube of mozzarella inside each meatball.  By forming the meatball around that speck of mozzarella, I can guarantee that the middle won’t be dry.  Instead, the cheese melts as the meatball is cooked and helps to add just the right amount of flavor and creaminess to keep each meatball delicious.

I like to brown the meatballs in a cast iron skillet before adding them to the bubbling pot of tomato sauce.  I find that they have the best flavor and texture this way.  By searing the meatballs in a hot skillet, they hold firmly together and keep their shape even after spending hours in the rich tomato sauce. 

I often make a double or triple batch of meatballs when I am in the kitchen.  I love to tuck a night’s worth of meatballs away in the freezer so that I can reach for them on a night when we need a little comfort food but time simply doesn’t allow me to make a fresh batch in time for dinner. When I have meatballs in tomato sauce at the ready in the freezer, I know that I can create hot meatball sandwiches for dinner in a matter of minutes.

Spaghetti and meatballs are still among my favorite meals all these decades later.  I love to make them as much as I like to serve them to my family and sit down to a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of me at the table.  Every bite takes me back to the comfort a plate of spaghetti and meatballs brought me when I was a girl and how much I enjoyed making them for our daughter when she was little. I hope that she’ll continue the tradition and find herself making this recipe for years to come. I hope that you will too.

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Spaghetti and Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Jennifer from 1840 Farm

I often double or triple this recipe. I make plenty, knowing that we’ll enjoy meatball sandwiches for a few days and I’ll have a simple dinner to put on the table. These meatballs freeze amazingly well both as frozen, uncooked meatballs and as fully cooked meatballs in the tomato sauce. This recipe is based on the starting point of a pound of ground beef and can be doubled, tripled, or more depending on how many you’d like to make. Each batch will make about 18 - 20 meatballs with plenty of sauce for serving.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Jennifer from 1840 Farm

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion , diced
• 3 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 Tablespoon fresh herbs (or 1 teaspoon dried) (I like to use thyme and oregano) , minced
• 2 ounces tomato paste
• 4 ounces bone broth or stock
• 28 ounces chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh from the garden)
• 4 ounces tomato sauce
• salt and pepper
• basil leaves fresh from the garden (optional)

For the Meatballs:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion , minced
• 4 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried) , minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• ½ pound Italian sausage removed from its casing
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup old fashioned oats
• salt and pepper
• mozzarella cheese , cut into ¼” cubes
• olive oil as needed for the pan

For Serving:

• spaghetti or pasta of your choosing
• Parmesan cheese

Instructions

For the Sauce:

• I like to brown the meatballs in a cast iron skillet before finishing them in the simmering pot of spaghetti sauce. I start the sauce first so that it is ready for the meatballs to be added.
• Place a large, deep pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil and allow it to warm and coat the bottom surface of the pan. Add the onion, stirring as they cook to prevent them from browning. Cook until translucent and beginning to soften. Add the garlic and fresh herbs. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic and herbs are fragrant. Take care not to brown the garlic as it will take on a bitter flavor.
• Add the tomato paste to the pot, stirring to coat the onion, garlic, and herbs. Allow to cook for a minute before adding the bone broth and stirring to combine. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
• Allow the mixture to come up to a simmer before reducing the heat to keep it at a gentle simmer. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as needed. I like to add whole basil leaves fresh from the garden during the summer or a few of the frozen cubes of basil I preserve for use during the fall and winter. You can add either or completely omit the basil with equally delicious results.
• As the sauce simmers, it will reduce and the tomatoes will break down. The result will be a thick, richly flavored sauce that perfectly complements the meatballs. As you prepare the meatballs, stir the sauce every so often to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed.

For the Meatballs:

• Place a cast iron skillet over medium heat. When the pan has warmed, add the olive oil and tilt the pan to fully coat the bottom. Add the onion, stirring as they cook and become translucent. Add the garlic and herbs, stirring as they cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool as you prepare the other ingredients for the meatballs.
• In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, the sausage which has been removed from its casing, egg, and oats. Add the onion mixture from the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix the ingredients, taking care to well distribute the ingredients and mix them fully.
• I like to use a large piece of freezer paper as a work surface for making the meatballs. I can setup my cubed mozzarella and then make the meatballs, placing the formed meatballs on the freezer paper until they are all formed. It makes cleanup a breeze.  When I am finished, I can simply fold up the paper, throw it away, and wipe down the counters.
• To form the meatballs, take a heaping Tablespoon of the meat mixture in hand. Place a cube of mozzarella in the middle and form the ball around the cheese. I try to make my formed meatballs about 1 ½” in diameter (approximately the size of a golf ball or ping pong ball). Keeping the meatballs at a similar size will enable you to cook them evenly. Continue until all of the meatballs have been formed.
• Stir the simmering tomato sauce, seasoning as needed or adding more tomato sauce or bone broth if it has reduced too much for your liking. At this point, the sauce should be ready to add the partially cooked meatballs.
• If you are making meatballs to be frozen uncooked, transfer those meatballs to a tray lined with freezer paper, parchment, or waxed paper. Freeze them for several hours or overnight until frozen solid. Transfer to a freezer bag or a vacuum seal bag for long-term storage.
  
• To cook the meatballs, warm the cast iron skillet used to cook the onions over medium heat. Add a bit of olive oil to the warm pan, tilting to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add 6 meatballs to the warm skillet, spacing them so that they don’t touch each other.
• Cook the meatballs for 3-4 minutes before using a spatula or tongs to flip them to the opposite side. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, adjusting the heat on the pan to brown the meatballs without burning. Continue turning the meatballs to sear them on all sides. Gently transfer the browned meatballs to the simmering pot of spaghetti sauce, covering the meatballs with the sauce to keep them from drying out.
• Continue until the meatballs have all been browned and added to the spaghetti sauce. Gently stir the pot of sauce to ensure that the meatballs are covered with the sauce. Add a lid to the pot, making sure not to cover the pot completely. This will allow some steam to escape while also helping to keep the sauce warm enough to help completely cook the meatballs through. Adjust the heat under the pot as needed to keep the sauce at a gentle simmer. Allow the meatballs to cook in the sauce for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours.

For Serving:

• The meatballs and sauce can be spooned over cooked pasta and garnished with Parmesan cheese for traditional spaghetti and meatballs. A few meatballs nestled in a toasted bun with a bit of mozzarella and oregano on top is equally delicious as a meatball sandwich and always a welcome sight at our dinner table.

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