Spaghetti Meatball Supper

Twenty-four. I have been twenty-four for two days and it does feel different — not dramatically, but in the way Babcia Rose described: something has settled. The grief is two and a half years old now, which means I have been carrying it for more years than I will have not been carrying it for quite a while yet. It does not feel like a burden the way it did. It feels more like a particular kind of knowledge — that things can be lost, completely and permanently, and you can still keep going. That is not a small thing to know.

Back in Pilsen, back in Room 108 on Monday. The kids: Rosa at her desk, Marcus at his board, T. in the book basket before the bell even rang. They have no idea it is my birthday. They would not care particularly if they did, which is correct. The classroom is not about me. The classroom is the place where they are taken care of, and I am the one who takes care of them, and the birthday is incidental to all of it.

Made a birthday meal for myself on Sunday evening in Pilsen — not cake, something savory and celebratory. Pasta with a proper Bolognese: ground beef and pork, onion, carrot, celery, a splash of wine, whole milk added at the end, slow-cooked for two hours until it is more sauce than anything with a specific texture. Over tagliatelle. The right pasta for Bolognese is always tagliatelle.

I made it and ate it alone at the kitchen table by the east window, which was dark by the time dinner was ready. Twenty-four years old, alone in a Pilsen apartment, eating Bolognese I made myself from scratch. This is not a sad sentence. This is not a sentence about loneliness. This is a sentence about a woman who knows how to feed herself well, which is not nothing. Which is actually, when you get to the core of it, the whole thing.

The Bolognese I described — ground beef and pork, the long simmer, the whole milk stirred in at the end — grew out of the same instinct behind this recipe: the belief that a meal made carefully, even for one person, even on an ordinary Sunday, is worth the time. This spaghetti and meatball supper is the dish I reach for when I want something that feels celebratory without being fussy, something that asks you to stand at the stove long enough that the apartment smells like home. On the night before I turned twenty-four, that was exactly the right thing.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (80/20)
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 medium carrot, finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb spaghetti
Fresh parsley or basil for garnish

Instructions

Make the meatball mixture. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, breadcrumbs, milk, egg, garlic, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix gently with your hands until just combined — do not overwork or the meatballs will be dense.
Form and brown the meatballs. Roll mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown meatballs in batches, 2–3 minutes per side, until a crust forms. Transfer to a plate; they will finish cooking in the sauce.
Build the sauce base. In the same pan, reduce heat to medium and add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to turn golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Deglaze and add tomatoes. Pour in the red wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
Simmer the meatballs. Nestle the browned meatballs into the sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for 25–30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened and deepened in flavor.
Cook the pasta. While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.
Combine and serve. Add drained spaghetti directly to the pan with the sauce, tossing gently to coat. Add a splash of reserved pasta water if needed to loosen. Serve in wide bowls with meatballs on top, extra Parmesan, and a handful of fresh parsley or basil.

Nutrition (per serving)

Spaghetti Meatball Supper — The Birthday Meal I Made Just for Myself