Meatballs with Penne Rigate

Little L is OBSESSED with spaghetti! She would eat endless amounts if I let her. I asked her what she wanted for dinner last night, and of course, she said spaghetti. With a little persuasion (and bribery), we settled on meatballs with penne. I told her it would taste just like spaghetti. Thankfully, she loved it!

Ingredients

Meatballs--
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 lb. Ground Pork
1 Egg
3/4 cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
2 tbls. Minced Garlic
1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp. Dried Basil
1 tsp. Dried Parsley
1 tsp. Dried Oregano
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
Splash of Milk
3 tbls. butter *For browning meatballs.
1 tbls. olive oil *Also for the browning of the meatballs.

Sauce--
1 Medium Onion, Diced
1 tbls. Minced Garlic
1 28 oz. Can Crushed Tomatoes
1 28 oz. Can Whole Tomatoes
1 tbls. Dried Parsley
1/2 tbls. Dried Oregano
1/2 tbls. Dried Basil
1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
Salt and Pepper *Season to taste.
Beef Broth *I thinned my sauce with a splash.
1, 1 pound Box of Penne Rigate Noodles

Directions
Throw all meatball ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Except for the butter and oil. Mix until all ingredients are combined, but don't over-mix! Over-mixing the meat will toughen up the meatballs. Grab 1 tablespoon full of meat mixture and roll into a ball. (I used my small cookie scoop, so much easier, and all the meatballs were perfect uniformed size.) Repeat this process a bazillion times, until all meat mixture is balled. Place meatballs on a cookie sheet, and pop in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Sticking them in the freezer helps them to not fall apart during the cooking stage.

While the meatballs are chilling, get a large pot and heat it to a medium-high heat. Add the butter and olive oil and let it get nice and hot. I used my large cast-iron dutch oven. It gives meat awesome color. When butter and oil is ready, add meatballs. Do not overcrowd the pot. I did several batches. If you overcrowd your pot, your meatballs will not get nice color. You're not cooking these through, just getting the color! Place meatballs on paper towel lined plate to drain. When you've browned all the meatballs, drain a little bit of the excess grease. You want a few tablespoons left, for the sauce.

Add your diced onions and garlic to the pot, and let saute a few minutes. Careful not to burn the garlic. Add the crushed tomatoes and can of whole tomatoes, along with the spices.  Let simmer 10 minutes. You can break up the tomatoes a bit, if you don't want large chunks. The sauce will thicken, if it gets too thick you can add a splash or two of the beef broth. Add the meatballs back into the pot, cover the pot, and let simmer on low for 30-40 minutes.

While the meatballs and sauce are simmering, bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add in a 1 pound box of penne rigate noodles. Drain noodles when done, and add to the meatballs and sauce. Stir everything to combine, and serve!