Piles of Pasta and Meat-uh-balls

Since my last post, my apron and spoon haven't seen too much kitchen action.  I've been spending this week in a mixture of sadness and shock at the news of a very sudden death in my family.  On Wednesday, I packed a bag and made the trek home to New Jersey with my sister.  Knowing the difficulty of the events that were to conspire, I took a big LLBean tote bag and nestled in my stand-up mixer, pasta maker, spoon and apron.  Upon seeing this bag with my overnight bag at the door, Beth, roomie, said "Are you serious?"  My response, "Yes, very serious.  In my family, you don't head home for this type of gathering without cooking a big ol' family supper for a crowd of people afterwards."  So, this is precisely what I did.

My mother, an Irish second generation American, has learned to make her own delicious meatballs and gravy having married an Italian second generation American.  Both one of six children, there are aunts, uncles and cousins galore, and the pack just keeps growing!  Therefore after tears and hugs and a day full of emotion, I could think of nothing else to do at the end of the day but just make endless piles of pasta in my parents' beautiful kitchen for an intimate gathering, by our standards, of sixteen. 

Menu:

Momma P's Homemade Meat-uh-balls (#33)

Momma P's Homemade Tomato Gravy (#34)

Spinach Fettuccine (#35)

Semolina Fettuccine

Momma's meat-uh-balls are made super simply, and I adore them.  

1 package ground beef

1 package meatball ground-meat mixture (veal/beef/pork?)

2 eggs

generous shake of breadcrumbs

2 tsp Italian seasonings (parsley, basil, oregano)

1.5 tsp garlic powder

1/2 c milk

Mix together well.  Shape into meatballs.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, turn and bake for another 15 minutes.  Transfer to gravy and cook completely.

These, in her tomato gravy, simply embody an afterschool supper for me.  The smell of these two items on the stove reminds me immediately of bouncing in the door in my uniform, kicking off my shoes, dropping my backpack and playing afterschool with my sisters.

Momma's tomato gravy

2 28 oz cans tomato puree

1 28 oz can tomato sauce

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 16 oz can tomato pasta

2 tbsp Italian seasonings (parsley, basil, oregano)

1.5 tsp sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

Put all ingredients in crock pot with meat-uh-balls (and/or sausage) and cook on low all day.  Come home to the aroma of perfection.  

Spinach Pasta Dough

2 c Semolina flour

2 c all purpose flour

6 eggs

2 egg yolks

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 c fresh spinach (pureed in food processor)

Knead well! Let rest 30 minutes prior to moving through the pasta maker.

Dad and I cranking out the pasta

After making both sets of pasta doughs, simply omit spinach for the plain pasta, we got out the pasta maker, and it made for a wonderful, albeit very long, project of processing the dough into beautiful and long ribbons of fettuccine.  It was such a therapeutic way to spend the evening with family after a day filled with such sorrow.  

 

Mom with a floured tray of pasta

The table filled with plates of pasta, glasses of wine and spoonfuls of parmesan cheese could not have been more apropos for all of us.  There was laughter and looking through old photo albums, story-telling and even a happy birthday to ten-year-old Alanna!  Put simply, it was exactly what I needed on Thursday night of this week.  

 

Alanna, Regina & Aunt Sandi flip through old photos 

Alanna makes a wish

265 to go...