Sausage Meatballs and Spaghetti

Name: Sausage Meatballs and Spaghetti
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1/2 teaspoon, salt; 1 teaspoon, pepper; 1/4 teaspoon, baking soda; 4 teaspoons, water; 12 ounces, ground pork; 2 slices, hearty white sandwich bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces; 1/3 cup, heavy cream; 1/3 cup grated, Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving; 2 large, egg yolks; 2 , garlic cloves, minced; 1 teaspoon, fennel seeds, coarsely ground; 1 teaspoon, dried oregano; 1/2 teaspoon, red pepper flakes; 12 ounces, sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and broken into 1-inch pieces; 2 tablespoons, extra-virgin olive oil; 1 , garlic clove, minced; 1 , (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes; 1 , (15-ounce) can tomato sauce; , Salt; 1 tablespoon, minced fresh basil; 1 pound, spaghetti

61 comments

Appears in Cook's Illustrated September/October 2015, America's Test Kitchen TV

A good meatball is tender enough to cut with a fork; sausage is inherently firm and springy. So is there any way to make a tender sausage meatball?

SERVES4 to 6

TIME2 hours

has video

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

We wanted to use commercial Italian sausage to create meatballs that were full of sausage flavor but still fork-tender. To temper the springy texture that sausage can have, we add a combination of ground pork, brined with baking soda and sa...

This is a members' feature.