Recipe of the Week: Spaghetti with Meatballs

a couple of sundays ago, i made mindy some spaghetti with meatballs for dinner. this tomato sauce recipe is a great one to make if you've been harvesting lots of tomatoes from your garden this summer and want something fresh tasting.

Ingredients
sauce (part 1)
2lbs roma tomatoes, peel, seed, and dice
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp roasted fennel seed
parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

in a sauce pan heat the olive oil then brown the garlic.  add the chopped tomatoes salt and pepper.
heat a small iron skillet;  roast the fennel seed until you can smell it but don't let it smoke.
cool fennel seeds, then grind it up with a mortar and pestle.
add fennel seeds and the oregano to the tomato mix.  use good oregano too.  it helps a lot.
let sauce stew for a couple of hours to break down the tomatoes.  if you want to, blend the whole pot into a smooth puree.

meatballs
1lb ground beef with a handful set aside for sauce
1/4 cup of parsley, chopped finely
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped finely
clove of garlic
1/8 of a shallot
1 tsp roasted fennel seeds
1 tbsp oregano
olive oil

set aside a small handful of meat for the sauce.
finely chop the parsley, cilantro, garlic, and shallot.
drizzle oil in a bowl add all ingredients and thoroughly mix.  the oil will help the meat stick together, you don't need an egg unless that's your thing.
make little 1inch meatballs and then poach them in the sauce for 10 minutes or so.

sauce (part 2, after you have made the meatballs)
handful of meat
roasted peppers, sliced thinly
1 small onion, chopped

in a large skillet brown the onions and the meat that you set aside.
add in the sauce (w/o the meatballs) and the cooked spaghetti.
mix it all together, let it blend for a couple of minutes. then eat it.