Rigatoni pasta with meatballs

Votes: 1

Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Complexity: easily
Servings: 6 - 8

This Italian-style rigatoni pasta with meatballs will become your signature dish for Sunday family dinner. It's filling, delicious, and enough for a large group. Plus, it's hard to find anyone who doesn't love pasta or juicy, firm meatballs in a flavorful tomato sauce. These meatballs are made with a mixture of ground beef and pork, and white bread soaked in milk and grated Parmesan add a wonderful texture. The meatballs are pan-fried, then simmered in a homemade tomato sauce with basil and served with boiled pasta. Incredibly simple and delicious.

The recipes use measuring containers with the following volumes:
1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.

Ingredients for the recipe:

Meatballs

6 thick slices of crusty bread
340 g of ground beef
340 g of minced pork
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for serving
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
0.5 cups olive oil

Rigatoni and sauce

900 g rigatoni pasta, cooked until al dente
1 yellow onion, diced
0.5 cup red wine (optional)
1 can (800 g) of canned crushed tomatoes
1 can (800 g) of canned whole tomatoes
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
12 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Suggestions

We recommend

Recipes with similar ingredients: meatballs, ground beef, minced pork, rigatoni pasta, pureed tomatoes, eggs, milk, Parmesan cheese, red wine, parsley, basil

Cooking the dish according to the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 95°C (205°F). Break the bread into pieces. Process in a food processor until fine crumbs form and place the bread on a baking sheet. Dry in the oven for about 30 minutes.
Meatballs:

In a large bowl, combine the two types of ground meat. Add the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, milk, parsley, garlic, eggs, salt, and a little black pepper. Mix with clean hands to distribute the ingredients evenly.

Using a spoon, scoop out the meat mixture and form into meatballs (about 25). Place them on a baking sheet and freeze for 10-15 minutes, just until the meatballs firm up.
Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Working with 8-10 meatballs at a time, fry them until golden brown, 2-3 minutes per batch. While you prepare the sauce, remove the meatballs from the pan to a plate.
Sauce:

Add the garlic and onion to the same pan. Stir and cook until the onion begins to soften, 1-2 minutes. Add the wine and cook for another minute (skip this step if you're not using wine). Add the pureed tomatoes, whole tomatoes, sugar, salt, and black pepper to taste.

Stir the sauce to evenly distribute all the ingredients. Cover and reduce the heat. Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Add a little water to thin the sauce if needed. Then add the parsley, basil, and meatballs! Stir gently, cover, and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the meatballs are cooked through.
Place the rigatoni pasta on a large platter, top with the meatballs and sauce. Sprinkle with additional chopped parsley and serve with grated Parmesan.