Best Spaghetti and Meatballs - With homemade marinara sauce!

Spaghetti and meatballs are such a classic dish, and our version has everything made from scratch. The meatballs are so tender with the most perfect texture inside, and the sauce is from scratch and easy. You make it while the meatballs bake in the oven. This recipe is such a winner. You've gotta try it. Let's make our meatballs first. They will bake in the oven while we make our quick spaghetti sauce. I'm starting by grinding eight saltine crackers into crumbs, and we'll combine that with a half cup plus one tablespoon of milk. This will keep our meatballs juicy and tender. Set it aside for a few minutes. For the meatballs, we also need a half cup of finely chopped onion, four cloves of minced garlic, and a quarter cup of finely chopped fresh parsley. For even more flavor, we need fennel. Use seeds and grind them, or use previously ground fennel. You will need about one tablespoon. To add some sweetness and reduce the raw flavor of the onion and garlic, we will cook them in a skillet with olive oil and fennel. Cook the onion, garlic, and fennel over medium heat until soft and translucent. Now, I'm using eight ounces each of ground beef and ground pork for the meatball mixture. I love this combination since it makes our meatballs flavorful and juicy. Add six tablespoons of grated or ground Parmesan cheese, 3 1⁄4 teaspoon of salt, a quarter teaspoon of black pepper, chopped parsley, and the sauteed onion, garlic, and fennel. Give everything a good mix. I use clean hands. Then, when it's mostly mixed, mix in the salting and milk mixture. It looks wet at first, but after a few mixes, the milk absorbs into the meatball mixture. This meatballs recipe makes about 16 meatballs. I eyeball-sized, and today was a little off because I made 17. No worries, though. That can be mine to test later. I've got my oven preheated to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, and we'll bake the meatballs until they are lightly browned on top. I'm not really looking to fully cook them, although they will be pretty close. While the meatballs bake, we can make our simple spaghetti sauce. For the sauce, I'm using shallots, garlic, and fresh basil. This is the same skillet as earlier. Add more olive oil, and then add a quarter teaspoon of Aleppo or crushed red pepper flakes, half cup minced shallots, and six cloves of minced garlic. Cook until translucent, and then pour in a quarter cup of white wine. Let the wine simmer away, and stir in one tablespoon of Italian seasoning. Finish with a third cup of chicken stock and a large 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes. Season with one teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of pepper, and then stir in that fresh basil. Let this simmer for a few minutes, and then when the meatballs are light brown, drop them into the gently simmering sauce. Add any juices from the baking sheet, and then simmer until they are done. It shouldn't take long. Then toss in your spaghetti. I move my meatballs over to one side and slowly toss in the pasta. If you're worried the pan will overflow, you can remove the meatballs to give more space for the pasta, and then put them back for serving. I love serving the spaghetti and meatballs with extra basil and shredded Parmesan cheese. We have fallen in love with the spaghetti and meatballs recipe. The meatballs are juicy and tender, and our easy homemade spaghetti sauce is delicious with Italian herbs and lots of garlic. An absolute winner. See you next time.