Spaghetti "Little Italy" with meatballs in tomato sauce

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1.2 kg beefsteak tomatoes
• 1 large onion(s)
• 1 clove(s) garlic
• 500 g tomatoes, pureed
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• some salt and pepper
• Sugar
• 500 g minced meat, mixed
• 2 eggs
• 2 rolls from the day before
• Water for soaking
• 50 g breadcrumbs
• 8 g ground salt
• 2 g ground pepper
• 1 tbsp, crushed paprika powder, sweet
• 2 tbsp chili flakes
• 1 ½ tbsp oregano, dried
• 1 tsp thyme, dried
• 1 bunch of basil
• 1 piece(s) Parmesan
• 600g spaghetti
• salt water

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

Score the beefsteak tomatoes crosswise and briefly blanch them in boiling water. Then rinse them in cold water and peel them. Cut the skinned tomatoes into eighths, remove the seeds, and cut the tomatoes into small cubes. Finely dice the onion and finely chop the garlic. Soak the bread rolls in water. Mix the ingredients for the seasoning mix. Mix the well-drained bread rolls with the eggs and add the minced meat and the seasoning mix. Knead everything well into a homogeneous mixture. You can adjust the consistency of the mixture slightly with the breadcrumbs. Then form about 30 meatballs from the mixture and set aside. Choose a pot that not only fits the sauce but also has enough room for all the meatballs later. Heat it on the stove and add the olive oil. Sauté the onions until translucent. Add the diced tomatoes and garlic to the onions. Season everything with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and sugar, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Then add the passata and simmer for another 10 minutes. Don’t forget to stir. Now add the meatballs to the tomato sauce. To do this, reduce the heat to low and simply drop them into the sauce, one by one, with a spoon. Carefully stir the sauce with a spoon until all the meatballs are coated. Then put a lid on the pot, turn off the heat, and let everything simmer for about 30 minutes without stirring. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the spaghetti. Cook for 8-12 minutes, depending on the type of spaghetti, until al dente. Finely chop the basil. Grate the Parmesan cheese. Drain the spaghetti and portion it into pasta bowls. Place 5 meatballs per serving on the pasta and spoon a large spoonful of tomato sauce over them. Finally, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and basil to taste.