Spaghetti and meatballs was the classic dish I ate at Grandma’s house growing up: She had her all-day recipe that filled her creaky house with heady aromas that built anticipation as meatballs simmered in sauce on the stove.
The fact that she was 100 percent first-generation German — she emigrated at the age of 6 — never stopped me from making her recipe the benchmark by which every other meatball would be judged.
Tweaking her recipe to lighten it up a bit, and make it weekday-friendly by shortening the cook time, was a task I didn’t take lightly.