Recipe: Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs

Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs
rec.food.cooking/TR Fina (1999)

Here is our family recipe for spaghetti and meatballs. This is an 4-6 hour process, but if you love to cook and want an authentic recipe (handed down to me from my husband's Italian family), here goes:

Tomato Sauce
3 small cans Tomato Paste (Add 3 cans water per can paste)
1 can tomato Puree
3 cloves garlic, minced (more or less to your taste)
1 bunch chopped green onions
1 tsp. salt (add more or less to suit taste)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp. basil leaves (rub them in your hands before putting in sauce)

In a little olive oil, saute the garlic for a couple of minutes. Don't brown it. Remove from heat; add the paste, then the water. Mix well. Return to heat and add remaining ingredients. Simmer for at least an hour. (We simmer and stir for at least three hours.) This is your basic sauce for spaghetti, lasagna, etc...

As far as the meat:

You can brown ground meat in the pan after you cook the garlic and continue with the sauce recipe. (Add 1/4 cup grated romano cheese to the sauce) I do this on weeknights for a quick version.

OR you can make meatballs to add to the sauce: (A family gathering favorite)

Meatballs
1 cup grated Romano Cheese
2 lbs. ground beef
1 or 2 chopped garlic cloves
2 tsp. parsley
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 handful warm water - Grandma insists on this!! ;)

Brown in olive oil. Drain on paper towels and add to the sauce. Try to simmer the meatballs in the sauce for at least two hours.