Meat Balls with Spaghetti - A la Siciliana

The weather continues cold and windy. Although the temperature rose to 9°C, it was down to 5°C before 12 noon. One German minister complained that politicians make less money than football players. The government is putting up billboards and publicity spots for making parents children friendly, so that birth rate in the country may rise. Hilary Clinton won New Hampshire primaries. A woman's tears could move mountains.

The wind is howling outside, my wife has opened all the windows in the house and the balcony door is open. She says that with heating on all the time, the flowers are wilting and the house has to be aired. So I am thinking of preparing a dish which is both light and satisfying. And have decided to make meatballs with spaghetti. This is one of my favorite dishes and once when I went to Italy, some friends invited me to dinner and prepared meat balls, fried green peppers, fried aubergeen(eggplant), olives and fresh goat cheese. The food was fantastic. We had rough sicilian red wine with little water mixed with it.

For the meatballs:
500 gms. minced pork or beef or lamb
One medium onion ( finely peeled & chopped)
Two teeth of Garlic-finely chopped
Ginger-Peeled and finely chopped
Fresh herbs (corriander, mint or oregano)
One teaspoon grinded cardaman,cloves and cinnaman
Salt & Black Pepper to taste
One egg
Dry Bread Crumbs (3 tablespoons)
Mix all the ingredients and shape into golf ball size meatballs

For the pot
Two large onions -peeled and chopped
Six teeth off Garlic -chopped
Ginger (abt. 3cmts)-chopped
2-3 bay leaves
One small tin of tomatoe puree
One cup red wine (I put 1/2 bottle wine in the pot)
Two beef cubes
One green chilli (or 2-3 dried red chillies)
Grinded cumin seeds.
Salt to taste
One twig Rosemary

Heat olive oil in a pot and fry onions for two minutes, add ginger and garlic and fry for two more minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and meatballs. Cook on low heat(gas mak 3) for 30 minutes. The meatballs will be ready, soft and juicy. With a laddle, mix the contents slowly so that the gravy gets thick. Garnish the food with fresh herbs and serve with spaghetti or macaroni.
The meat balls can also be stuffed with soft cheese, mozarella or fetta cheese.
Sicilian, Spanish and French red wine will do nicely with this dish. Enjoy it. Have a nice day.