Ingredients:

1 lb cooked spaghetti

For the meatballs:

1 lb. ground chuck
1/2 lb ground veal
1/2 lb ground pork
2 cloves finely minced garlic
1 medium sweet onion, coarsely grated
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 cup panko crumbs soaked in 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp salt

For the sauce:

3-4 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
1 tbs fresh thyme leaves
4 28 oz cans peeled, whole tomatoes (preferably San Marzano) or the same amount of crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
3 tbs tomato paste
1 batch baked meatballs
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil for garnish
Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated for topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl until combined. Do not overhandle or the meatballs will be tough. The mixture should be moist, but hold together. If the mixture appears too wet, add more panko crumbs, a little at a time. If it is too dry, add a little more milk.

Form into balls, about 1-1 1/2 inches in diameter. You should get about 20 meatballs out of this recipe.

Place meatballs on a shallow baking sheet and bake until they start to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In the meantime, begin making your sauce.  Put whole tomatoes into a large bowl. With your (clean) hands, squish and mush them until they are all broken up. If you're using crushed tomatoes, skip this step.  Set aside.

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, reduce heat to medium and add the onion, carrots and thyme. Saute about 8-10 minutes or until onion is soft and translucent.   Add the garlic and saute a few minutes more, until it becomes fragrant. Be careful not to burn it.

Add the wine and whisk in the tomato paste.  Let it bubble up and cook down for a minute or two.

Add the tomatoes to the pot and stir, mixing everything together.

Add the red pepper flakes and 1/4 cup of the basil. I usually like to add a little salt and pepper at this point as well.

Stir again, cover the pot and wait for the sauce to begin to bubble. Reduce heat to medium low and keep sauce at a simmer.

Carefully, lower the meatballs into the sauce. Don't stir at this point because you don't want to break up the meatballs.  Cover and gently simmer for about 30 minutes. Then, uncover, gently stir and let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes more.  If, for some reason, your sauce starts to burn or stick a little on the bottom of the pot, do not scrape it with your spoon or else the whole sauce will taste burned!

Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Remove meatballs to a large bowl or platter and keep warm.  Place the pasta on a large serving platter and ladle the sauce on top. Toss well. Serve the meatballs separately or on top of the spaghetti. Top it off with the rest of the fresh basil and grated cheese.

Serve and enjoy!