recipes 124 and 125: "samedi spaghetti"

So it is Saturday. Outside is what turned out to be a relatively anticlimactic blizzard. All of this means that it is time for a post on Samedi Spaghetti. What is Samedi Spaghetti? Samedi means Saturday in French. I have a very vivid memory of French class in seventh grade and learning the days of the week via singing and clapping. The song that I remember us clapping and singing to started with "Lundi Soupe..." (Monday soup) and ended with "Samedi Spaghetti" (Saturday spaghetti). I also remember Thursday, which was ham: "Jeudi Jambon." I don't remember the other four days of the week. And try as I might since seventh grade, I cannot locate the official (or even unofficial) lyrics to this song anywhere. It ended with clapping and chanting: "Les jours de la semaine!" (clap clap) "Les jours de la semaine!" Since I can't find the lyrics anywhere, I've finally succumbed to the conclusion that one of the following two things occurred: (a) the French teacher, Madame LaMontagne, totally made up the song (if true, I give her a lot of credit, because decades later, parts of it have obviously stuck with me) or (b) this only existed in my head (also a possibility!) French and math were my favorite subjects all the way through high school. Lucky for my readers, this post contains both as I am moving right along to another Venn diagram, which is sort of mathy if it includes things like the quadratic formula, which I also learned as a song in seventh grade and which has stuck with me in its entirety today. Here you go, it is sung to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel": "X equals negative b, plus or minus radical, b squared minus 4-a-c, all over 2-a!" This is getting super geeky super fast, so I'm going to nip it in the bud now, before I totally lose my reputation of total coolness and popularity. Here are the spaghetti recipes, which have nothing at all to do with French or mathlete-level math.

The first recipe, aka the more difficult but arguably also the more delicious one, comes adapted from here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/spaghetti-and-meatballs-recipe2/index.html. I would say that Tristan and I both agree that the first recipe is currently in the top 5 of my recipes right now. It is really, really good. Really good! The second recipe, also delicious and less time-consuming, comes slightly modified from here: http://hauteapplepie.com/2012/11/13/meatballs-and-marinara-sauce/

BEST SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS
Ingredients:
-1 lb of spaghetti

Meatballs
-a little bit of olive oil
-salt and pepper
-2 garlic cloves (smashed/chopped/whatevs)
-1 small onion, chopped
-2 T chopped fresh parsely
-drizzle of milk
-about a cup or so of breadcrumbs
-1 and 1/2 lbs ground beef
-1 and 1/2 lbs ground pork
-1 egg
-1/2 c parmesan cheese (please use good parm!)
-1/2 lb of fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes

Sauce
-wine (as much or little as you would like)
-about 1/4 c of olive oil
-1 medium onion, chopped
-3 garlic cloves, chopped
-2 (28 oz) cans of whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes
-salt and pepper
-1/4 c fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces, plus some extra fresh basil

Instructions:
1) first, make the meatballs... heat some oil in a skillet and once hot, add the onion, garlic, and parsley and cook until the mixture is soft- remove from the heat and let cool
2) mix the breadcrumbs with some milk, combine with the meats, egg, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and the cooled onion mix
3) combine the meat mixture until just mixed (don't overmix or the meatballs will be tough) and shape the meatballs
4) brown the meatballs on all sides for about 10 minutes 

5) remove the meatballs from the skillet with a slotted spoon and place in a baking dish, then take a break from the meatballs...
6)...and move along to the sauce: cook the onion and garlic in olive oil for 4-5 minutes, add the tomatoes (making sure to only add half of the liquid and discard the rest of the liquid), season with salt, pepper, and wine and cook until the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes
7) adjust the seasoning for the sauce if needed, bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes
8) preheat the oven to 350 degrees and clean up what has obviously become a very messy kitchen as the sauce simmers and the meatballs rest
9) spoon half of the sauce over the meatballs, shower with the mozzarella, and drizzle on a little olive oil (just do it!)

10) bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes (or until cooked) and cook the spaghetti according to package instructions while the meatballs are baking
11) top the spaghetti with meatballs, some of the remaining sauce, some parm, and some fresh basil

DELICIOUS!!

EASIEST SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS
Ingredients:
Sauce
-3 T olive oil
-1 small onion, finely chopped
-3 or 4 cloves minced garlic
-1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
-1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
-salt, pepper, and dried oregano to taste
-red wine to taste

Meatballs
-1 lb ground beef
-1 egg
-about 1/2 c seasoned breadcrumbs
-salt, pepper, and oregano

Instructions:
1) add oil to a large pot over medium heat
2) saute the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes
3) add all of the other sauce ingredients, stir to combine, bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to very low, simmer the sauce for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
4) get crack-a-lackin' on the meatballs: combine all meatball ingredients in a large bowl, mix until just combined, and shape into 1 inch balls
5) drop the raw meatballs gently into the sauce and cook, covered, for about an hour on low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom and skimming any fat from the meatballs which has risen to the top of the sauce
6) cook the spaghetti/pasta according to package instructions
7) top the spaghetti/pasta with the sauce and meatballs, some parmesan cheese, and chopped fresh basil

also very, very yummy