# Spaghetti & Meatballs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2016, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370 "2016-06-03T10:11:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/21 "2016-06-03T16:51:07Z")
Pat the meatball mixture into oval patties, sear them, and then douse them in a tasty brown onion or mushroom gravy and simmer them for twenty minutes or so. It’s great served with mashed taters or egg noodles. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/22 "2016-06-03T17:26:52Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > In Sunday gravy, the meatballs (along with sausage, porkchops, or whatever other red meat you have lying around) are generally served with penne or rigatoni. Really? I’ve always served my Sunday Gravy over regular ol’ schpagootz. Thinner pasta absorbs the sauce and grease better. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/23 "2016-06-03T23:39:18Z")
Spaghetti with crumbled hamburger is good. Spaghetti with “penny” slices of sausage is magnificent! ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/24 "2016-06-04T01:04:36Z")
The _Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook_, published long enough for my Mom to rely on it, has a _Meatballs and Rice_ recipe involving browned meatballs in a sort of celery and carrots in a light tomato juice sauce that the missus makes which is absolutely pure comfort food. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/25 "2016-06-04T02:49:17Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > [Kofta Tagine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYKqUGdc7rc) Those may not be Italian meatballs, but, because of this thread, that’s what I ended up making for dinner. Yum! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/26 "2016-06-05T18:14:18Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > Hollandaise sauce sure is different, did you invent that combo? Are you going for a mock Stroganoff taste with the sour cream? Re: Hollandaise sauce: My mom’s recipe from way back, don’t know where she got the idea. I was trying for Swedish Meatballs when I added sour cream. Didn’t quite turn out as planned but still good. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/27 "2016-06-05T19:21:18Z")
My wife makes meatballs that stand on their own as the main meat. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/28 "2016-06-06T05:37:40Z")
> [@Atomic\_Mama](#): > > Is it ALWAYS mandatory to serve Italian meatballs with spaghetti? If so, why? :dubious: > > Anybody out there got a meatball recipe that uses another shape or form of pasta? > > I sure would like to switch it up good … :eek: :smack: Try making any spaghetti dish with spaghetti squash instead. I’ve done that. It works. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/29 "2016-06-06T19:26:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Those may not be Italian meatballs, but, because of this thread, that’s what I ended up making for dinner. Yum! 🙂 🙂 Glad you enjoyed. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/30 "2016-06-06T20:58:34Z")
Meatballs go well everywhere. I really can’t think of anything they don’t go with. I often bring meatballs to parties with a little dish of marinara or pizza sauce to dip them in. That’s really all they need. Somewhere I saw a recipe that made Italian rice balls (arancini) with a meatball center. Basically, take a medium-smallish meatball and coat it with leftover risotto rice. Dust the outside with bread crumbs and fry. (Here’s a recipe that uses a meat stuffing, not necessarily a meatball, though: [Arancini (Italian Stuffed Rice Balls) Recipe | CDKitchen.com](http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/65/Arancini-Italian-Stuffed-Rice122019.shtml)) Since you need leftover meatballs and leftover risotto to make these, it’s natural that you had meatballs with risotto a few days before. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/31 "2016-06-06T23:10:26Z")
I prefer my meatballs and red sauce over orzo. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/32 "2016-06-06T23:13:09Z")
Would you rather have meatcubes? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/33 "2016-06-07T00:50:34Z")
I learned on Alton Brown’s _Good Eats_ that spaghetti & meatballs are an American invention (or Italian-American at least). If you order pasta & meat sauce in Italy you’ll get something resembling ziti in beef stew… ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/34 "2016-06-07T01:29:19Z")
My mom never made meatballs. She had a sauce with meat that went over the spaghetti. I’ve had them at restaurants. But really prefer a nice meat sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370/35 "2016-06-07T05:07:19Z")
I’ve never had meatballs with spaghetti. The only way I remember Mum serving meatballs is Porcupines (meatballs with rice in them, cooked in tomato soup). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spaghetti-meatballs/756370.md?page=1)