Spaghetti and meatballs Recipe

Mr. Beast Life Style & Cooking

Here's a description for a Dailymotion video on Spaghetti and Meatballs:  Indulge in a timeless favorite with our Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe! In this video, we guide you through making perfectly seasoned meatballs and a rich, savory marinara sauce, all served over a bed of al dente spaghetti. Ideal for family dinners or a cozy night in, this hearty dish is sure to satisfy. Watch now for easy-to-follow steps, cooking tips, and a delicious result that's sure to become a household favorite!  ---  Feel free to adjust it to better fit the specifics of your video!

Transcript

00:00The spaghetti and meatballs recipe I'm about to share with you is sponsored by Skillshare.

00:05It's Italian-American culture on a plate. It's an edible grease-stained white tank top.

00:10It's big, sloppy, loud and awesome, and here's how I do it.

00:13The meatballs themselves are pretty much how Grandma Ragusea made them. Starts with breadcrumbs.

00:18Breadcrumbs are what make meatballs, not tiny hamburgers. It's an essential ingredient,

00:22and you could source them, however. I happen to actually have some stale bread here, which

00:26is obviously what recipes like this were originally designed to convert into productive use. Dirty

00:31your food processor if you want to, but I need to dirty my grater for this recipe anyway,

00:35so I figure I might as well use it for the bread.

00:37I would certainly not weigh this if you weren't watching, but because you are, eh, 20 grams

00:41or a third of a cup, but dear lord, this is not precise.

00:44Then we're gonna soak these in milk, just enough to cover. I probably poured in more

00:47than I needed there. I did an experiment once where I soaked them in water instead, and

00:51I absolutely could tell the difference in the finished meatballs. The milk sugars really

00:55come through, and I think kinda caramelize a bit on the outside.

00:59More dairy now. Some pecorino or parmesan cheese. This is what gave my grandma's meatballs

01:03insane flavor. I don't think it matters much which side of the grater you use. I'm doing

01:07it on the finest side because I'm gonna reserve some of this to top the pasta later, and I

01:12like the fine cheese dust on top of this particular dish, probably just because that's what I

01:15grew up with. Fine-grated pecorino in a jelly jar. Always on the table.

01:19Get yourself a mixing bowl and throw in about a pound of ground meat. This is beef chuck.

01:24I think fattier meat makes better meatballs. I sometimes mix it with lamb, which is great.

01:28On goes about 20 grams of cheese. Same basic quantity as the breadcrumbs. Third of a cup.

01:32This is so a job for garlic powder. It rehydrates in the meat and comes through a lot stronger

01:37than fresh garlic. I-M-H-O. Maybe half a teaspoon. Same deal with the onion powder. Some people

01:42use fresh onions in meatballs, but you really have to cook them first, or at least puree

01:46them. The powder is so much easier, and I think actually tastes better in this.

01:51A pinch of black pepper and a little shake of cayenne for Chef John and for Grandma.

01:54She did this. It doesn't make the meatballs spicy. It's more of a background flavor. Makes

01:58them taste fuller.

01:59I'd say at least half a teaspoon of salt. Real big pinch. You might need more, but remember

02:04the cheese is very salty.

02:06Now the breadcrumbs. At the very least, you want to lift these out of the milk to leave

02:10any loose milk behind. You might also want to squeeze out a little. In my opinion, the

02:15more milk you leave in, the better the meatballs taste. But more milk means softer consistency,

02:20which makes them harder to cook. They're more likely to break apart as you're browning them.

02:24I was trying to play it safe for the camera here, but when I tasted these, I wished that

02:27I had left more milk in.

02:29You see that I don't use any egg for binding. I think that's unnecessary and it makes the

02:32meatballs rubbery. What also makes the meatballs tough is over-mixing this. I'm using my fingertips

02:37to almost just toss it together. If you keep the mixture somewhat heterogeneous, you're

02:42leaving little fault lines inside the meatballs that will cause them to crumble in a pleasant

02:46way inside your mouth.

02:48If you're in any way unsure of your seasonings, especially your salt, I highly recommend just

02:52cooking a tiny bit of this now and tasting it. You can cook it in the microwave, just

02:56to kill any bacteria, then taste it and adjust.

02:59As I roll these out, I'm shooting for maybe a ping-pong ball size, maybe a little smaller.

03:03If you go much smaller, it becomes hard to brown these without breaking them up. If you

03:07go bigger, you get less browned surface relative to the total mass. Giant meatballs are for

03:12Instagram. Screw that.

03:14Some people coat these in flour before frying them. I don't like the slimy texture that

03:17gives them after they soak in the sauce. Ideally, I think you want to stop, cover and

03:21throw these in the fridge now for a while. Overnight would be awesome. I think it improves

03:25the flavor and it definitely helps them hold together better during cooking, but I don't

03:29have that kind of time right now.

03:31Olive oil in a pan big enough to not only cook the meatballs but also the tomato sauce

03:34that's coming. Moderate heat, oil nice and hot before the meatballs go in. Gotta get

03:39a good crust on them or they'll break when you try to flip them.

03:42Honestly, a well-seasoned cast iron pan or a teflon pan is really the best thing for

03:46this job. Grandma used cast iron. I used the stainless steel here for color contrast.

03:50I think it makes it easier for you to see what's happening, but I regretted it. Some

03:54of these stuck and broke on me as I tried to scrape them off. The better tool to use

03:58anyway is a wooden spoon to kind of push the meatballs off the bottom of the pan, but my

04:02wooden spoon was missing. I believe someone was using it as a sword to torment his brother.

04:07Give up on the idea of perfectly round meatballs. You know how people get those? By chucking

04:10their meatballs in a deep fryer, which is not a thing that I am going to do. You just

04:14roll these around and try to get as much of the surface area browned as possible. I'm

04:18being conservative with my heat because I'm gonna build my sauce right here in the same

04:22pan and I do not want to let the fond burn.

04:25Speaking of which, in goes a big squeeze of tomato paste. It gives incredible instant

04:28depth to a quick tomato sauce, especially if you let it fry for a sec. Before it burns,

04:33in goes a high-quality 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, about 800 grams, and then deglaze

04:38the bottom of the pan. Really wish I had my wooden spoon right now.

04:41This is where Grandma and I really part ways. She made her sauce in a pot, fried the meatballs

04:45in a pan, and then transferred them to the pot. I think you get amazing flavor if you

04:50do it all in one pan. The dissolved meatball fond and rendered beef fat is all the additional

04:55flavoring these tomatoes need, I think. And if you do a small quantity of tomatoes in

04:59a wide pan, you can reduce them really fast. I like a very tight texture on tomato sauce

05:04for pasta. Grandma's was super watery. This will be done in the time that it takes to

05:08boil the spaghetti. Did I mention I had a pot of salted water coming to a boil? In goes

05:12half a pound of spaghetti, half a box, 225-250 grams. I break my spaghetti in half because

05:17I think that makes it easier to get the amount that I want on each forkful. If that makes

05:21you angry, I frankly think you have really messed up priorities.

05:25This needs to be stirred frequently or it'll stick and burn. You absolutely could do this

05:28in a cast iron pan, even though cast iron reacts with acid. It takes a long time for

05:32a noticeable amount of iron to leach into your sauce, and this sauce is going to be

05:36done in 10 minutes.

05:38When the pasta is almost there, I'll turn off the heat and I like to mix some grated

05:41cheese right into the sauce, along with some fresh herb. I'm using parsley today. I'm gonna

05:45top with those ingredients too, but I like to have a little running throughout. Now is

05:49when you'd want to taste for seasoning, because the cheese brings additional salt.

05:53Drain off your pasta, and if you wanted a looser texture, you could keep some of that

05:56water in there. Me, I like it tight, verging on dry, which is why I like to add the sauce

06:00into the pasta pot and not the other way around. This way I can make sure that I'm not over-saucing

06:05my pasta.

06:07Mama was from that generation of Italian-Americans that just put the pasta on the plate dry and

06:11then poured the pasta sauce on top. I'm not into that, but I do like to preserve a bit

06:15of that heterogeneity or layering of textures by under-saucing the spaghetti in the pot,

06:20putting it on the plate, and then scooping a little more sauce on top with some more

06:23meatballs. It's nice to have some meatballs sitting right on top there.

06:26It's super weird that I care, but I also like to put my parsley or basil on first, and then

06:30the cheese on top. I like how the cheese stays white and looks like fresh-fallen snow on

06:35the leaves.

06:36Half a box of pasta would normally just give you two generous portions, but with the added

06:39bulk of the meatballs, I think I've got enough food here for three or four people. This is

06:44certainly a higher meat-to-pasta ratio than grandma would have eaten, but I'm living in

06:47more plentiful times, and I'd rather load up on protein than carbs.

06:51I love the brighter taste you get with a quick-cooked sauce. The meatballs are small enough that

06:55you could eat them in one bite, but if I cut into one with a fork, you can see how it kind

06:59of crumbles. That's what I like, as opposed to the kind of rubber ball texture that you

07:03get if you don't take the steps that I took to keep these soft.

07:06Just a little skill that I've picked up and am happy to share with you, as thousands of

07:09instructors at Skillshare are happy to share what they know. Skillshare is an online learning

07:14community for creative people, where millions of folks come together to learn how to make

07:18things and express themselves.

07:20As I record this, the world is on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Making something

07:25is one of the best coping strategies I know. It can help break the cycle of boredom and

07:30anxiety and put your time inside to productive use.

07:33Check out the new iPhone filmmaking class with Niles Gray and Caleb Babcock.

07:37We'll run through tips and tricks of how we shoot. We'll run through different apps, different

07:41settings. The RAWs will be downloadable, so either you can go take what you learn, shoot

07:45your own film, or practice your editing.

07:47Legit, these phones have gotten so good now that sometimes I feel like a chump for shooting

07:51on anything else.

07:52When you take a Skillshare class, it's not just like watching a tutorial. It's a real

07:56class. There's a logical flow and structure, there's homework assignments, and there's

08:00a community where you can get feedback and support.

08:02The first 1,000 of you who click the link in the description will get a two-month free

08:06premium membership trial, so you can follow your creative impulse wherever it leads you.

08:11And if you need some comfort in these crazy times, come on, make spaghetti and meatballs.

08:15You know you wanna.

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