Charlene's Recipe

Traditional Spaghetti and Meatballs

Category: Pizza and Pasta

Serves 6

1 lb spaghetti, linguine or thin spaghetti, uncooked
Meatballs:
4 slices white bread
1/2 cup skim milk
2 large egg whites
8 oz ground turkey
8 oz extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1 Tbsp minced fresh basil or 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Sauce:
1 recipe Basic tomato sauce (recipe below)
1 tsp vegetable oil, divided

Put the bread in a medium mixing bowl and pour milk over it. Let sit 5 minutes. Add the egg whites, ground turkey, ground beef, Romano cheese, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Knead the mixture with your hands until it is smooth. To prevent sticking, dip your hands in cook eater before forming each meatball. Form mixture into 30- 1 1/2 inch balls.
Pour the tomato sauce into a large, heavy bottom saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Warm 1/2 tsp vegetable oil in a large non stick skillet. Add half of the meatballs to the skillet and brown them on all sides.
Spoon the meatballs into the tomato sauce. Add the remaining 1/2 tsp vegetable oil to the skillet and brown the rest of the meatballs, then add them to the sauce. Simmer, stirring, for 20 minutes.
While sauce is simmering, prepare pasta according to pkg directions; drain. Transfer to a large serving bowl. Remove bay leaves from sauce; pour sauce over pasta; serve.