"spaghetti" and "meatballs"

Spaghetti and meatballs is a classic comfort food.  From diners to fancy Italian restaurants, everyone has their own spin on it.  Since my mom doesn't eat meat, we decided to mix it up -- we used pre-cooked vegetarian meatballs and whole wheat linguini.  I adapted Rachel Ray's recipe from Week in a Day (it's a great show for people who don't get time to cook during the week!) and made adjustments/added things I liked.

Please feel free to make your own meatballs/buy your favorite ones from the store.  But this sauce was delicious!  The San Marzano tomatoes make the sauce -- they're sweet and flavorful!  To make it a balanced meal, we steamed and sauteed up some asparagus with olive oil, s&p.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• parmesan cheese (or pecorino)
• Extra-light or extra-virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling plus 3 tablespoons
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• salt, black pepper
• 1 tsp. chili pepper flakes
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• big pinch of dried rosemary
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup vegetable (or chicken) stock
• 1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes
• 3/4  cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 lb. linguini (or spaghetti)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• your favorite meatballs
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• How I did it
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• In a large skillet, heat olive oil (3 turns of the pot) over medium-high heat.   Add fennel seeds, chili pepper flakes, onions,  salt & pepper, and oregano.  Stir for 4 minutes then add garlic, cooking for 2 more minutes.  Add tomato paste and stir 30 seconds.  Pour in wine, let heat up for 2 minutes, then add stock and tomatoes.  Using potato masher, break up tomatoes in pan (do it less if you like it more chunky).  Reduce heat to simmer once sauce comes to a boil.  Add about 1/2 of the basil leaves, and slide in the meatballs.  For pre-cooked meaballs, let them cook for however long meatballs need to be cooked (if they are fresh, they should be cooked most of the way).  Simmer until done, stir in rest of basil, and a big handful or two of cheese.
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• Cook the pasta to al dente.  Before draining, save about 1/2 a coffee cup of the starchy cooking liquid.  Drain the pasta, return to pot, add butter and some of the starchy cooking liquid.  Once sauce is done stir a couple ladles of the sauce into the pasta.  
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• Serve hot with more of the sauce and meatballs over the pasta, and enjoy with your favorite wine and good company :-)
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