Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

This is a wonderful spaghetti and meatball recipe! I've made it a couple times now and really like the way it comes out each time. The meatballs are delicious and come out nice and tender after simmering in the sauce. I didn't have the full 2 1/2 hours when I made this today; I simmered the sauce about 30 minutes before adding the meatballs and it still came out great. I had 1 1/2 cans of whole tomatoes and added a 15-oz can of diced tomatoes to round it out and that worked really well. This is great served over hot spaghetti with some fresh shaved Parmesan on top and some crusty garlic bread on the side.

Lots of ingredients ready to go!

Dicing up the onion.

Sauteing the vegetables (I added about 1 1/2 cups of fresh mushrooms to our sauce).

 

Tomatoes are in!

After adding the meatballs and remaining ingredients, and simmering for 30 minutes.

Topped with fresh Parmesan and so yummy!

Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs by Jeremy on AllRecipes.com

Ingredients
MEATBALLS
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg, beaten

SAUCE
3/4 cup chopped onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 package fresh mushrooms (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes (or 4 15-oz cans diced tomatoes)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 bay leaf
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and beaten egg. Mix well and form into 12 balls. Store, covered, in refrigerator until needed (or prepare right before you're ready to add them to the sauce).
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic (and mushrooms, if using) in olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 90 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and meatballs and simmer 30 minutes more. Remove bay leaf. Serve.