Spaghetti and Meatballs

I was watching an episode of "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives" and Guy Fieri went to a place in Phoenix, AZ called St. Francis. (St. Francis Restaurant) The chef there made a fantastic looking meatball dish.  I loved every dish he featured. Everything was so bright and colorful mixing flavors and used lots of ingredients that I love. I was so inpsired I had to try my own.

The beginnings of spaghetti sauce. 

My friend's MIL cans pureed tomatoes so I start with a large jar of that. I added chopped up Zucchini squash, cut up tomatoes from the garden, chopped Parsley from my garden, chopped red onions, salt, pepper, sugar and about 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for almost an hour.

As it nears being done, (You want to cook it down, and make it thicker) you can either puree it in a food processor or if you have a submersion blender that's the quickest and easiest way to puree it. I leave it a bit chunky though as I don't mind a bit of the veggies in the sauce. 

For the meatballs I used a pound of ground beef (85/15), more cut up parsley, red onion and then tore up two pieces of the homemade bread we make. One eggs, salt and pepper and mix.

Roll into small balls and place in a skillet with Olive Oil over medium heat. Cook the meat balls on all sides. I like to let mine get a bit of a "crust" as it makes them more flavorful later.

Next put the meatballs in a baking dish. I tore bits of fresh Mozzarella cheese, topped with 1/2 of the homemade sauce and then grated fresh Parmesan and put in the over at 350 for 20 minutes.

Make spaghetti noodles according to the directions. 

When done, drain, rinse to stop the cooking and toss with Olive Oil.

The finished meatballs!

Add some pasta to the plate and top with meatballs and more sauce. 

I loved the sweetness of the homemade sauce. I ate WAY too much of this. It's so good! I also put some away in my travel crock pot contatiner to take to work. What is your favorite meatball recipe?