Especially for comfort food, I look for flavors from my childhood. This Meatballs and Pasta with Tomato Sauce Recipe is homemade and from scratch, I hope it will meet your expectations.
Making meatballs from scratch
Making meatballs from scratch should not put you off, if you have a stand-alone mixer and a food processor it is even easier. Just put all the ingredients into a large bowl and knead for about 10 minutes or until it becomes stringy. Let rest in the fridge before shaping for at least an hour or up to a fortnight.
Meatball 
Shaped 
On Stove
Talking about ingredients here is what you need:
- Ground beef: buy with at least 12%, if not possible add an extra tablespoon of oil.
- Bread crumbs: use either stale bread or store-bought bread crumbs
- Onion: chop to tiny bits or use a food processor. If you notice it is watery squeeze out the excess water and get rid of the bitter taste.
- Garlic cloves: always improves the flavor.
- Veggie mix: optional.
- Parsley: optional
- Egg: to blend, not a must.
- Sparkling water: helps to make the meatball rice and be soft.
- Cumin
- Thyme
- Black Pepper and salt to taste
When time is up give the shape you want. Make them round and bite-size or flat and oval to make sure the middle gets cooked too. You can use an ice cream scoop or a meatball shaper like the ones below:
I suggest cooking the meatballs separately from the tomato sauce you can either bake them until browned on all sides in the oven at 190° Celsius (375° F) or cook on the stove in a cast-iron skillet until browned on all sides using oil of your choice. I find baking easier but cooking tastier. 
You can read more details about meatballs in my Homemade Meatballs post.
How to make tomato sauce?
Start with pounding red pepper flakes, fennel and coriander seeds using a mortar and pestle. Then dry roast these in a saucepan for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Then add olive oil and butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted also add chopped onions and sauté until translucent. Add the chopped garlic cloves and cook for another minute. Finally, add about a cup of canned chopped tomatoes or fresh chopped tomatoes when in season. Let simmer for half an hour.
If you prefer a smooth sauce transfer the sauce into a food processor or use a hand blender to make it smooth.
How to cook pasta?
Start cooking the pasta when the meatballs and the tomato sauce are either ready or about to be ready in 5 minutes.
I will not assume that everybody knows how to cook pasta. Those who do, please don’t be cross, just skip this section.
- Fill a large tall pan with water, up to 3/4’s of the pot and bring to a boil. It is not enough when there are just small bubbles in the bottom of the pot, there should be big bubbles rolling all over the top of the pot.
- Add about two generous teaspoons of salt. Wait for the bubbles again. Do not add salt before the water is fully boiled as it takes longer for salty water to come to boil.
- Add the dry pasta. Mix and make sure the pasta is fully covered by water.
- Mix often when you have just added the pasta so the pasta does not stick to each other. Then mix occasionally.
- Cook around 8-10 minutes. Taste a few to check. The pasta should be soft on the outside with a little stiffness in the middle which is called al-dente.
- Drain when ready, save a cup of the pasta water for adjusting the pasta sauce thickness if necessary.
- Do not rinse.
Combining Meatball Pasta
Pour the tomato sauce onto the pasta, mix until the pasta is well covered with the sauce. Serve by adding the meatballs on top of each serving. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper.
It will take less time to eat this lovely meal than it has taken me to write this post. Hope you’ll have a great time enjoying every bit.
Meatball Pasta with Tomato Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 500 grams ground beef 12% fat
- 75 grams bread crumbs
- 40 millilitre sparkling water
- 100 grams onion (1 small)
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon veggie mix
- olive oil to fry if not baking
Tomato Sauce
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon coriendar seeds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 500 grams crushed tomato can or fresh in season
- ½ teaspoon basil
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 250 millilitres warm water
Pasta
- 500 grams pasta
- 2 teaspoon salt
- water
Instructions
Meatballs
- Grate the onion or use a food processor. If watery squeeze out the bitter water of the onion.
- Mix all the meatball ingredients together and knead for about 10 minutes or until stringy and sticky.
- If there is time let rest in the fridge for half an hour.
- Give shape using hands or a tool.
- Bake at 190°Celsius (375° F) in the oven or on the stove in a skillet using a liquid oil such as olive oil or sunflower oil both until both sides are brown and the internal temperature reaches 165° Celsius (330° F).
Tomato Sauce
- Using a mortar and pestle pound the fennel seeds, coriander seeds and red pepper flakes.
- Add these into a saucepan, turn up the heat and dry roast for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add butter and olive oil. When butter is melted, toss in the chopped onions and saute until translucent. Then add the chopped garlic cloves and cook for another minute.
- Add in the tomato, bay leaves and the rest of the spices. Pour in the water and let simmer for half an hour.
- Transfer the sauce into a food processor or use a hand blender to make it smooth.
Pasta and Combining
- Bring the water to full boil. Add 2 tablespoons of water.
- Add the pasta, mix occasionally. Taste occasionally.
- Cook al-dente. Check if ready by tasting when ready drain.
- Save a cup of the pasta water.
Notes
Interested in more recipes? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.