Spaghetti and Baked Meatballs

If you love Italian food, there is definitely going to come a time when you'd want to eat spaghetti in red sauce. And then, if you love eating non-vegetarian food, you'd want to add meatballs to it. There is just something about it that appeals to the child in all of us. The simple act of wrapping spaghetti all around by rotating a folk can put a smile on anyone's face :)

But this recipe is not child's play. It has a dense taste driven from red wine in a chunky red sauce and hearty baked meatballs. We replaced the traditionally used beef/lamb meat with the healthier and our preferred chicken. Enjoy it with a bottle of red wine and it is a perfect weekend dinner - grown up but with child-like innocence. 

Ingredients

Approx 30 spaghetti strands

For meatballs (around 10 balls)
250 gm minced chicken
2 slices of bread, torn and soaked in 1tbsp milk
1 egg (you are only going to use half of it)
Oregano and garlic powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

For red sauce
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Tomato purée from 7-8 medium plum tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp sugar
Oregano and chilli flakes to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Spaghetti
1. Cook the spaghetti as per instructions (al dente)

2. Drain the water and toss with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and a hint of oregano, chilli flakes and salt

Baked meatballs
3. Soak the bread pieces in milk and keep aside. 

4. Add the soaked bread pieces with the minced chicken, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add half of a whisked egg. You may later add more if the mixture is too rigid.

5. Make 3/4 inch balls from the mixture and line on a oiled sheet. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to let them maintain their shape. 
Note: You may need to use oiled hands to make the balls from the sticky mixture.

6. Pre-heat the oven at 250C and bake the meatballs for about 15 minutes till they become golden brown on top

Red Sauce
7. In a pan, heat a bit of olive oil and add the chopped garlic.

8. Once the garlic starts getting brown, add the chopped onions and cook for about 5 minutes till they get translucent.

9. Add the red wine and let it reduce to half.
Note: Whenever cooking with alcohol, always add it slowly, as it may make a few flames.

10. Add the tomato puree, oregano, chill flakes, salt and pepper, and sugar. Cook for about 10 minutes till the tomato gets properly cooked.

11. Reduce the heat and add the milk. Cook for another 10 minutes to make a uniform sauce.

Plating
Now you may go the sophisticated way of serving spaghetti topped with sauce and then meatballs (like in our picture). Or you can go totally fun (our recommendation) by mixing the meatballs with the red sauce and then adding the spaghetti to the mixture. Either way, the taste is to die for coupled with a bold red wine.