Herbs, Glorious Herbs... Spaghetti & Meatballs

This is one of those recipes that compels me to say, "GROW HERBS!" 

Until you have used fresh or freshly dried herbs, you can not imagine the difference. The aroma is truly heavenly and wafts throughout the house. I mean it. The smell of herbs will be in heaven-  I'm certain!  If you're ever stressed-   sit in the midst of an herb garden and breathe deeply. You can literally feel your stress drain away. Herbs I love the most:  sweet basil, Thai basil, spicey basil (do you see a theme here?), tarrogon and thyme-  most of which are in this recipe.  The secret to this recipe is lots of potent herbs. Use them generously. 

As a side note...   if you decide to grow herbs, drying them is a breeze. Cut and tie them into big bunches at the end of the summer (label the bunches). Hang them upside down and let them dry out until the leaves start to fall, then transfer them to large brown paper bags (each bunch in a separate bag). Once they have completely dried, i.e. are very crunchy-  pull the leaves off into the paper bag and throw the branches away. Once all the leaves are off, sink your hands down into the leaves and roll them together between your hands, crushing them as much as possible (you have to do this over and over until you've crushed them all). Put them in glass jars and enjoy immensely throughout the whole winter!!  I usually crush them some more when I use them (grab some in my hand and crush/roll them into the food) since I'm never patient enough to get them thoroughly crushed the first time around.

Herbed Home-made Spaghetti and Meatballs

Meatballs: Saute a large, finely chopped onion and 4 cloves of minced garlic.

Mix them with: 2 lb of ground beef, a handful or two of GF breadcrumbs, 2 eggs, and a generous sprinkling of basil, tarragon, parsley, salt and pepper. Shape it into meatballs and brown them in the oven at 400 (keep an eye on them, it doesn't take more than 10-15 min.).

Sauce: Blend 1 large gallon-size bag of tomatoes (I freeze all of my tomatoes in ziplocs; if you don't, just use it as a measurement.)  Mix it with a....   you got it-   generous supply of herbs!...  such as basil, parsley, thyme and tarragon, going heaviest on the tarragon.  Salt & pepper, and sprinkle a little bit of sugar in.  Simmer the sauce until it is think and yummy, tasting and tweaking as you go.  Add the browned meatballs to the sauce and serve with GF pasta.