When SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS Were INVENTED

THE GENESIS of MEATBALLS

Spaghetti & Meatballs

MEATBALLS  ...  Excerpted From Daniel Bellino-Zwicke's SUNDAY SAUCE

"Whne Italian-Americans Cook"

Many people will tell you that that Spaghetti and Meatballs or Veal Parmigiano are not Italian. Well Italians do eat Meatballs, but not with pasta.  The Meat-balls are served on their own  with Tomato Sauce or with Polenta and sauce, and even mashed potatoes. Yes Italians in Italy eat mashed potatoes.  It was our Italian immigrant ancestors who first put the two together, Spaghetti and Meatballs that is! Although I must say, that I feel that although it may not have been a known practice, that over time, there must have been quite a good number of Italians in Italy who over the years put maccheroni together with Meatballs on the same plate.  “It would be utterly impossible that of the Billions of meals cooked in Italy over the years, that somewhere in homes in Sicily, Campania, Puglia, Calabria, or even Tuscany for that matter,  that no Italian mothers or grandmas did not put  Meatballs and Pasta on the same plate. “Impossible I tell you!  The odds are way against it!”

    So, what I’m saying is that, although it was not documented, I’m sure that in some households in Italy,  over the years, there had to be families who cooked  Meatballs in Sauce (Gravy), dressed the pasta, Spaghetti, Rigatoni, Ziti with the Sauce, and threw a couple Meatballs on the same plate as well. I guarantee this happened. And if it did, that makes it Italian.

    Yes, the Italian immigrants at the turn of the 19th Century were primarily a poor lot.  Meat was a bit expensive, and any meal that might include it, might have to be stretched with much cheaper ingredients in order to feed the entire family. That cheaper ingredient was none other than, “Yes, you guessed it, “Pasta” or as most Italians in Italy call it “Maccheroni,” Spaghetti, Ziti, Rigatoni and such. I’m sure, some of these Italian ladies who came to America from Campania, Sicily, Calabria, Genoa, and Apulia, as a treat, would put one or two Meatballs on a plate with pasta, and on the same plate in order to have less work by washing less dishes, the “invention” of Spaghetti & Meatballs, the Genesis so to speak.

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

SUNDAY SAUCE Is AVAILAIBLE on AMAZON.com .. CLICK HERE !

MEATBALLS alla SINATRA

MEATBALLS alla SINATRA "RECIPE In SUNDAY SAUCE"

RECIPE In SUNDAY SAUCE .. Click HERE !!!!

MEATBALLS

    Spaghetti and Meatballs, what’s more Italian than that?  Well, a lot of things actually. There is a constant ongoing debate over whether “Spaghetti and Meatballs” is an authentic Italian dish or not. Of course spaghetti is Italian as you can get, and so are Meatballs. However Italians (in Italy) do not eat them together. Eating Spaghetti with Meatballs is an Italian-American invention and tradition, and a great one at that, as Lidia Bastianich and other have written. Italian-American is a great cuisine in itself. It is most truly authentic Italian with a few twist here and there, like eating Meatballs on the same plate with Spaghetti instead of two separate courses as they do in Italy. What’s wrong with that? Maybe the Italian-American mammas of way back (100 years ago, around 1905 or so) didn’t want to clean twice as many dishes so they combined the two courses into one. Just kidding, though it is not a bad idea.

    Let me tell you one thing, in case you might not have known. Meatballs, and yes they are Italian and eaten in Italy, meatballs are infinitely more popular in the United States than they are in the mother country of Italy. Americans eat millions more of them a year than their Italian brethren. The Neapolitans and Sicilians eat them the most in Italy and because of the fact that these are the areas where the greatest number of Italian immigrants to the U.S. came from, thus one of the reasons this dish became such a great favorite of Italian expatriates, their children, grandchildren, and millions of Americans, including people of other ethnic origins who happen to love the great cuisine of Italy and Italian-America. Italian is one of the World’s great cuisines. You don’t have to be Italian to love the food, the same as many Italian-Americans love to eat Chinese food, it’s tasty, so Mangia!!!

    Oh yes, you want to know what kind of meat goes into the Meatballs? Well the most common in Italian America are Meatballs made of ground Beef, Pork, and Veal. However, many make their meatballs solely with Beef, and in Italy and especially Tuscany, Veal Meatballs, “Polpettini” are quite popular. Whatever meat you choose, just make them tasty, and you’ll have people coming back for seconds, even third helpings.

    One more thing, Meatballs in Sauce (Gravy) are great but if you ever want a little change when making them? When making Meatballs for a Sunday Sauce or to serve with Spaghetti on their own, reserve a dozen or so meatballs that you don’t cook in sauce. Brown the Meatballs, then pop in the oven to finish cooking and serve on their own without tomato sauce gravy, and just a little bit of the juices the Meatballs cook in, with some chopped fresh parsley on top. They taste great this way. You can serve them as starter course (Antipasto), in a Sandwich, or as a main course with Mashed Potatoes, or a salad on the side or whatever you choose to serve them with, they’re “Great.” Try it some time!

Excerpted From SUNDAY SAUCE  "When Italian-Americans Cook"

   by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

RECIPE FOR SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS alla SINATRA in SUNDAY SAUCE 
by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

AVAILABLE On AMAZON.com CLICK HERE !!!!