After a good four year (loose) hiatus from Italian food if only because I kind of grew fatigued of noodles and Italian food in general (and my stint with vegetarianism probably had something to do with it - too much pasta)... I slowly eased back into it after consuming 10x my weight in Caesar salads during my last real semester. Then, I went to Maggiano's for the first time this past April. The cravings started coming back. Spaghetti and meatballs is one of the crucial pillars of kid's meals, right? (Along with mac 'n cheese and hamburgers, perhaps?) I remember it being such a treat to have spaghetti and meatballs when I was a kid - I could hardly believe it that my next door neighbor/best friend was casually having it for dinner. You can eat that at home? I mean, this is why I used to love Olive Garden... where else was I going to get pasta and marinara sauce? And then this is why I eventually learned how to cook for myself.
So when I had a half-used can of tomato paste, a block of Parmesan, and spaghetti, there was only one logical thing to do: go to Harris Teeter for some ground meat (it's okay because I had to go to the post office anyways). 80/20 chuck to make things easy.
I kind of got overly excited with the sauce, adding carrots and celery and fresh thyme. It turned out sweeter than I usually prefer, but the meatballs were savory and intense and perfect (don't skimp on the oil when frying), so balance was achieved. Also no such thing as too much cheese. I eat enough while cooking that half of the cheese never makes it to the final dish.
I kind of got overly excited with the sauce, adding carrots and celery and fresh thyme. It turned out sweeter than I usually prefer, but the meatballs were savory and intense and perfect (don't skimp on the oil when frying), so balance was achieved. Also no such thing as too much cheese. I eat enough while cooking that half of the cheese never makes it to the final dish.
This is the best kind of comfort food.
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