Spaghetti with Red Sauce and Meatballs

Spaghetti and Meatballs is one of those dishes that I love but have never actually made myself, until now.
We had friends over for dinner recently so that afternoon I poured myself a glass of wine, rolled up my sleeves and got to work on a delicious dish of spaghetti with red sauce and spicy meatballs.

The photo doesn't do it justice and since I was in a hurry to dig in I didn't take the time to properly "stage" my food. There are 2 meatballs featured here but one seems to be hiding.
I found the recipe on TasteFood. She adapted a recipe from Ina Garten, my favorite chef, and the results are too yummy. My only change- I used 1/2 ground beef and half spicy Italian sausage.

Make sure you choose a wine that you would drink. You may want to buy an extra bottle for your guests if you're like me and you don't pay attention to how much you're drinking while cooking.

I pureed my tomatoes in the food processor since I like a smoother sauce rather than chunky.

Use your hands to gently combine the meatball ingredients. Hey, it's fun to play with your food.

 

This is my first time participating in the Crazy Cooking Challenge. Are you participating? Next month the challenge is blueberry muffins, can't wait!