Pasta Napoletana with Meatballs

Ingredients

Pasta from Martelli
Water
Olive oil
Salt

Meatballs:
400g ground beef
1 egg
2 slices of white bread soaked in whole milk
1 shallot finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
100 g grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp roasted pine nuts
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
Olive oil for frying
Butter for frying

Tomato sauce:
1 jar good quality tomatoes (we recommend Italian Marzano tomatoes)
1 tbsp tomatoe purée
1 shallot finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
Some of the pasta water
Salt & pepper

Weekend means we have been shopping at Gutta på Haugen again! This time we got some sweet Pomodoros Marzano in a jar from San Nicola dei Miri and Spaghetti from Martelli. Much cheaper than a flight to Italy.

Andrea wanted just a simple Pasta Napoletana, but I managed to get my will and add some meatballs luckily.

This is a quick meal if you focus!

Soak the bread in the milk for a few minutes. Meanwhile, chop everything else for the meatballs. Squeeze the milk out of the bread. Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs. Now, get your hands in there. Really mix it well together. When you are happy with your meatball dough place it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile you can chop and prepare everything for the sauce, and put some water to boil for the pasta.

Heat the pan to medium-high and add a mix of olive oil and butter. Make meatballs in the size and shape you want using the palm of your hand (with some olive oil) and a tablespoon that you rinse in hot water in-between each meatball. Don't fry too many meatballs at the same time, give them some space in the pan. Keep flipping them around until all sides are browned and you feel certain they are warm to the core. I estimate 8-10 minutes for the size in the pictures.


Add salt and oil to the boiling water and cook the pasta. Set the fried meatballs aside, and cover them with some aluminum foil. Don't throw away the oil and butter you fried the meatballs in! This will be the base for your sauce. 

Add some more oil if you need to and fry the shallot and garlic on medium temperature. When the onion gets a blank color, add the remaining ingredients for the sauce. After 5 minutes use a stab mixer to puree it, and then return the sauce to the pan. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it, but use some of the pasta water in the sauce to get the desired consistency. Mix olive oil into the spaghetti so it doesn't get sticky.

If needed you can reheat the meatballs in the sauce for a few minutes.

Pasta, sauce, meatballs on top. Presto!