Not Your Nonna's Spaghetti & Meatballs

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5 from 2 votes

Not Your Nonna's Spaghetti & Meatballs

This dish has pasta, meatballs, and a red sauce, but it's NOT your classic spaghetti & meatballs recipe!

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: Meatball, Pasta, Sauce

Servings:

Author: Carolyn Stilwell

Equipment

Ingredients

Meatballs

1/4 lb Ground Hot Italian Pork Sausage can also use regular ground pork or mild Italian pork sausage
1/4 lb Ground Beef I used 90% lean
3 tablespoon Italian Breadcrumbs
1/2 Egg beaten
2 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese freshly grated; additional to serve
2 cloves Garlic minced
2 tablespoon Fresh Parsley chopped
2 teaspoon Fresh Chives chopped; additional to serve
1/8 teaspoon Dried Sage
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

Vodka Sauce

8 oz Pasta I used fusilli col buco but a long shape liked spaghetti or linguine will work as well
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Yellow Onion medium; thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt divided; more to taste
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 teaspoon Calabrian Chili Paste add more or less based on spice preference
2 tablespoon Tomato Paste
1/4 cup Vodka
28 oz Crushed Tomatoes I used 1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon Granulated Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/3 cup Heavy Cream
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese freshly grated; to serve

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Meatballs

Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare baking sheet. Line sheet with aluminum foil and place oven-proof wire rack over top. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Add all meatball ingredients to a large bowl. Gently mix with your hands until combined. Roll into about 3/4 inch meatballs. You should have about 25 meatballs. *See Note
Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through. Set aside for later.

Vodka Sauce

Cook pasta to al dente according to package instructions in salted water. Reserve about 1/2 a cup of pasta water. Set aside the pasta and pasta water for later.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in an high-rimmed sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and 1/4 tsp salt and stir to combine. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the minced garlic and cook another minute, stirring often.
Add the Calabrian chili paste and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Cook for 4 minutes until the paste darkens in color. Pour in the vodka to deglaze the pan. Scrape any stuck bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon. Let the liquid cook off for a couple minutes.
Pour in the can of crushed tomatoes then add the sugar, another 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
Turn heat to low and stir in the heavy cream until well combined. Stir in the cooked meatballs. Add the cooked pasta and toss everything together well. Add splashes of pasta water as needed to reach your desired consistency.
Divide among bowls to serve and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and sliced chives as desired.

Video

@carolbeecooks
Used the leftover meatballs from my Italian Wedding Soup to make a spicy vodka sauce version of spaghetti and meatballs. My favorite sauce ever ❤️‍🔥 #spaghettiandmeatballs #pastatiktok #leftoverideas #vodkasauce
♬ original sound - taylor roche

Notes

Note: These are the same meatballs from my Italian Wedding Soup recipe.

If you make my Italian Wedding Soup recipe, make double the meatballs and set aside half to make this pasta the same week! Or if you make this recipe first, you can save the rest of the meatballs for Italian Wedding Soup!

Nutrition