Spaghetti with Meatballs and Italian Sausage

I swear, I did not deliberately try to make a smiley face. :)

What kid doesn't like spaghetti and meatballs? Add in some Italian sausage and, yum. Definitely can get at least two nights out of this as well. So let's get right into it...

My Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Servings: 7-9 (Depends on how much pasta that you cook and how many meatballs or sausage each person eats.)

Ingredients for Meatballs:

1 pound of ground beef
5-6 Italian Sweet Sausage
1 cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregeno

Ingredients for Sauce:

1/2 tsp. oregeno
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 28oz. cans of crushed tomatoes (I use Contadina.)
Small can of petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of 100% Grated Parmesan & Romano cheese

Spaghetti with Meatballs and Sausage Directions:

1.) Unless you buy fresh ground beef and sausage, you will need to defrost your meat. Here's what I do. I defrost my ground beef in the microwave first.

2.) Once the ground beef is done defrosting, I put the ground beef into a bowl and then put the Italian Sweet Sausage in the microwave to begin defrosting while I work on the meatballs.

3.) Add 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp. oregeno, 1 egg, bread crumbs and mix well. Start shaping your meatballs and then add to frying pan. Don't turn on the stove until you have added all meatballs to the frying pan.

4.) Brown meatballs on all sides for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how long it takes to brown them. Cook on medium/low heat.

5.) Pour both cans of crushed tomatoes into a large sauce pan or dutch oven, along with your petite diced tomatoes.

6.) When meatballs are done cooking, depending on how much grease is in the pan, you might need to drain them on to a plate with a paper towel. If there isn't much grease, just place the meatballs into the sauce as is.

7.) Your sausage should be done defrosting by now, unless you bought fresh that is. Place the sausage into the sauce next. Then add 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp. orgeno and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Cover, stir well and bring to a slight boil on medium heat. Stir again, reduce heat to low and simmer covered for about an hour. (You can also brown the sausage if you choose to do so. I don't usually do that; it's a time waster to me.)

8.) Once your sauce has cooked for about 40 minutes, bring a large saucepan or dutch oven full of water to a boil. This is for your pasta. I prefer angel hair pasta, which takes only three minutes to cook once I place it into the boiling water. I sometimes use thin spaghetti or regular spaghetti, too. I mostly cook with the angel hair pasta, though. I like the taste and it's quick.

9.) Once your pasta is done cooking, drain the pasta in a strainer. I usually keep the pasta in the strainer and place it onto a plate so that any left over water doesn't drip all over the place.

10.) Now, you serve. You can leave the sausage whole, you can cut it into halves, or you can cut it into slices...depends on how you like it. For my older boys I give them a whole sausage. My youngest gets a half a sausage cut up. My girls get one half of a sausage, cut up into small pieces and divided. I eat one half.