Talk about an Italian tradition? Many people grow up eating spaghetti with meatballs weekly. This recipe can be as simple or fancy as you want it to be.

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 Tbsp plain dry bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, freshly ground
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Sauce

• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 14 1/2 oz can whole tomatoes, undrained & crushed
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Directions

1. Mix together all meatball ingredients in a bowl.
2. Form into balls 1 1/2" wide.
3. Bake on cookie sheet at 375F for 25 minutes.
4. While meatballs are cooking, saute onions in olive oil over a medium heat.
5. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients.
6. When the meatballs are done, add the finished meatballs into the sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Start spaghetti cooking near the end of this cycle so they finish at the same time.
8. Stir the cheese into the sauce and meatballs, and serve over the spaghetti.

A great alternative to meatballs is Braciole - Stuffed Beef Rolls.

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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi Barrett & Ron Barrett
What to read with your children while waiting for the pasta and meatballs to cook! The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast lunch and dinner.
But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers.
Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for the worse. The food got larger and larger and so did the portions. Chewandswallow was plagued by damaging floods and storms of huge food. the town was a mess and the people feared for their lives.
Something had to be done, and in a hurry.