The ultimate spaghetti and meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs is an iconic dish: whether it’s Lady and the Tramp that springs to mind at the name, cosying up over a shared bowl of the stuff, facilitating their canine kissing, or Henry Hill describing the prison meatballs that they make to remind them of home in Goodfellas, while Paulie slices garlic paper-thin with a razor blade, there’s no denying that this pasta dish is one which has taken on significance beyond the sum of its parts.

I rather hope that I never find myself in the position of either Henry Hill (imprisoned for mob crimes) or either of the romantic leads in Lady and the Tramp (snogging a dog), but I understand the impulse to create romance or nostalgia with food – and spaghetti and meatballs feels like the kind of dish your Italian-American grandmother would serve, even if you don’t have one.

I make no attempt at authenticity here, either Italian or Italian-American: these are just really great meatballs – dressed in what is probably my number one tomato sauce. The tomatoes are simmered with half an onion and a handful of garlic cloves until all are soft enough to be blitzed into a smooth sauce. The meatballs themselves are a blend of beef and pork mince, which give both the punchy flavour and texture you’re looking for; I’ve skipped the Goodfella’s veal (‘Veal, beef and pork… you gotta have the pork.’) as it’s slightly harder to get high quality veal mince in the UK, but if you have it, use equal quantities of all three minced meats. I’ve also skipped the breadcrumbs which are often used; bound with just an egg and a good measure of grated parmesan, the meatballs shine through.