and you need to use about thee times the sauce buti it is the best!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/real-meatballs-and-spaghetti-recipe/index.html

Every body who has had this thinks this is the best they have ever had!

Not a spice I associate with either Italian food or savory dishes. Mostly just something I use in fruit-based sweets. Or rarely if I do something Indian or Moroccan/North African, it might call for just a bit of nutmeg.

It's often used to flavor bechemel sauces for white lasagnas and I use it in most spinach recipes.

If I'm doing bean balls instead of meatballs, I use a little allspice instead. It's amazing how just a suggestion of it in the background makes bean balls taste meatier.

Mild Italian sausage rolled into balls and pan-fried, throw in the sauce and heat it up.

I tried real meatballs once, took forever and not nearly as tasty. The family requested I go back to the sausage.

In a separate pan I caramelize some frozen artichoke hearts and mushrooms with a bit of lemon and some garlic. In the main pan I brown the sausage balls, and degrease. Then I toss those ingredients together with some hot pasta, some sun dried tomatoes, some fresh basil if I have it, EVOO and a couple of pats of butter, a big bunch of grated parm, and some chopped fresh spinach just to get one more additional bit of nutrition. If I have some kalamata olives, I throw them in too.

It makes a very savory dish with lots of good flavors. If it seems dry, I pour in a bit of half and half but I kind of like it not saucy.

I use a California zinfandel -- about a cup of wine to three cups of sauce. Simmering the browned meatballs in the wine-enhanced sauce makes them out of this world, IMO.

What's your meatball mixture?

I use ground beef, fresh-made sourdough bread crumbs, grated parm, minced parsley, a cup or so of the tomato sauce, minced garlic, S&P, some fresh basil if I have it. Think I'm forgetting something, but that's the gist. Oh -- a glug of EVOO in the meat mixture. I might add other herbs, too.

I brown the meatballs with no oil, and degrease before adding them to the tomato sauce.

And the best part is two days later when I reheat leftovers in a saute pan with more EVOO. Yummmmm.

And salt and pepper. I cook them in tomato sauce (+ basil, oregano, wine and garlic) and serve over spaghetti. Or in a Stroganoff sauce with mushrooms over egg noodles, or sweet and sour over rice. I'm always on the lookout for new sauces, as we both like variety with our meatballs.

I use bread heels, and odds and ends of leftover bread, toasted briefly in the oven and then shredded in a blender. Don't see why fresh wouldn't work, though.

pound of ground beef
6 - 8 slices of bread
Kraft Parmesan cheese (1 and a half cups) (not romano)
sprinkle in Oregano and garlic powder to your taste (not garlic salt)
3 eggs

Mix together well and there are many ways to make it. Ball them up and put in sauce.

Another way make them into hamburger side patties and fry

Or roll the whole beef out on wax paper once you have it flattened out put cheese and salami inside and roll it up and bake it. Great taste. You can put sauce on top after you have baked it.