Spaghet­ti and Meat­balls (serves four, or two peo­ple two nights in a row, in my life)

good splash olive oil

1 medi­um red onion fine­ly chopped
3 cloves gar­lic, fine­ly chopped

1 lb ground beef, lamb, pork or my com­bo of all three
one hand­ful pars­ley, fine­ly chopped
3 tbsps Ital­ian seasoning
1 tsp dried basil
1/3 cup home­made bread crumbs
1/2 cup ricot­ta cheese
1/2 cup grat­ed parme­san cheese
1 egg, beaten

First, in a large skil­let saute the gar­lic and onions in the olive oil and let cool off the stove. Then mix all the oth­er ingre­di­ents togeth­er. When gar­lic and onions are cool enough to touch, add them and mix, using your hands (sor­ry to say) at the end. Form into balls that fit in the palm of your hand (you should get about six). Heat more olive oil in the skil­let you used for the gar­lic and onions and place the meat­balls in a sin­gle lay­er. Fry on one side for about three min­utes, then gen­tly turn them over and fry on the oth­er for three min­utes. Gen­tly remove the meat­balls one by one with a tongs, and place in your toma­to sauce. This can sim­mer indef­i­nite­ly, at a very low sim­mer, while you make your sal­ad and cor­rect your child’s geog­ra­phy home­work and boil your spaghet­ti. To serve, place a tongs-full of spaghet­ti on a plate, add two meat­balls, and ladle over sauce. Top with grat­ed parmesan.