One of the most popular pasta dishes in the US is spaghetti and meatballs and, funny enough, that's also where it originated. This dish is one that many people go to for comfort as well as nostalgia, as it wasn't just a staple in Italian-American homes growing up, but a staple in nearly everyone's homes. Nowadays, it couldn't be simpler to prepare with the help of frozen meatballs although those who truly love it, opt for homemade meatballs. And, speaking of which, many of these exist around the world, too - but traditional spaghetti and meatballs with marinara sauce are something unique to the US, as it was an Americanized dish.

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The tradition, as it's believed, started in New York and was inspired by traditional recipes that immigrants brought over from Italy. This is also where the typical spices used in this pasta dish came from, along with the idea to combine it all with sauce and spaghetti, one of the most popular types of pasta, as well. This dish is so popular that the US even declared March 9th 'National Meatball Day' in commemoration of everyone's favorite pasta topping.

Thus, Spaghetti And Meatballs Was Born

In the 1880s, immigrants came over from Italy to settle in New York, and with them were traditional recipes that had been in their families for generations. Although those who came to American from Italy had little in the way of money, they managed to hold their recipes close to them, many of which were from Southern Italy which is partly the style that inspired spaghetti and meatballs.

The original Italian meatballs were actually called polpette and were commonly seen throughout Southern Italy. However, the meatballs themselves were very small - such as the same size of meatball one would find in an Italian Wedding Ball soup, roughly the size of marbles.

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Back then and even to this day, the meatballs in Italy can be made with anything from ground beef to fish and are commonly used in dishes outside of pasta, including soups and stews, or simply eaten on their own. Back then, meatballs were made with stale bread as it was something that many households had leftover while today, meatballs are traditionally made with white bread and occasionally milk to soften it.

It Became Americanized

While the original meatballs seen in Italy were very small, as time went on and more families gained wealth, the food began to reflect that, as well. Meat was a high-end food product and something that wasn't attainable unless a person was wealthy enough to purchase it. When this was achieved and meat became a pantry staple, the size of the meatballs grew as if to emphasize the fact that a household was well-off. Bread continued to be used in the recipe for meatballs but as time went on, the ratio of bread to meat was eventually reversed and now, a recipe almost always calls for a large ratio of meat with only a few slices of bread. In short, bread was once considered to be a filler for meatballs.

Marinara, or tomato sauce, was not something that was always served with spaghetti and meatballs, either. This was also a luxury and it wasn't until the 19th century when many households gained access to canned tomatoes which made the entire process of making a homemade tomato sauce far easier. Rather than obtaining fresh tomatoes and going through the process of cooking and prepping them, making a homemade sauce was as simple as opening a can and adding herbs and spices. The term 'marinara' sauce came from the term 'mariner,' as it was often called 'sailor sauce.'

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Since this was a meal that could last some time, it only seemed natural for this sauce to go with a meal that was simple and easy to prepare. At this time, spaghetti was one of the only types of pasta that were readily available to the majority of most Americans. This is why it grew in popularity not only in this dish but in many American-inspired dishes. Once Italian restaurants caught wind of the dish as a whole, it became a staple on most menus, thus setting off the final trend of having spaghetti and meatballs with tomato sauce. While it's not a pasta dish that's entirely authentic when it comes to Italy's most famous pasta recipes, it is one that is still a staple to this day and a nostalgic comfort for many.

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