Spaghetti and meatballs

Finely chop the onion, chop a quarter cup of flat leaf parsley and half a cup of fresh basil, and press three cloves of garlic for the meatballs and four for the sauce.

In a large bowl combine the breadcrumbs, grated Parm, parsley, eggs, pressed garlic, salt and cracked pepper and stir until combined.

Optionally add the zest of two lemons, then add a pound each of ground beef and ground pork and mix with clean hands without overmixing.

With damp hands scoop two ounce meatballs, about 18 of them, and roll each one so it holds together.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat with three tablespoons of olive oil until shimmering.

Brown the meatballs in batches without crowding, turning occasionally, six to eight minutes; they finish cooking in the sauce. Remove each batch to a plate or baking sheet.

Variation: instead of pan frying, bake the meatballs at 400 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until mostly cooked through.

Remove two tablespoons of the fat left in the pot, then add the onion over medium heat and cook about five minutes, stirring and scraping the brown bits off the bottom.

Add the pressed garlic and the optional red pepper flakes and cook one minute, stirring constantly so the garlic does not burn.

Add two 28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes and half a cup of water.

Add the bay leaf, dried oregano, salt and black pepper and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Add the meatballs without stirring them at first, cover, reduce to low and simmer one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

At the 45 minute mark uncover, stir, and set a large pot of liberally salted water to boil; cook a pound of spaghetti.

After the hour stir in half a cup of chopped basil and remove the bay leaf.

Drain the pasta, reserving some water, and mix about two cups of the sauce through it with pasta water if needed.

Plate the pasta, top with meatballs and sauce and garnish with grated Parmesan and chopped basil.