Grilled Pasta with Grilled Meatballs

Ingredients

• 0.3 teaspoon pepper black freshly ground
• 2 cups ground bread crumbs dried finely
• 2 teaspoons sea salt 
• 2  eggs 
• 1 tablespoon basil leaves fresh finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley fresh finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves minced
• 2 pounds ground sirloin 
• 5 tablespoons kosher salt 
• 4 tablespoons olive oil extra-virgin
• 2 teaspoons oregano dried
• 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese freshly grated
• 4 tablespoons pecorino cheese grated
• 1 pound pasta like spaghetti dried
• 2 cups grilled tomato sauce 
• 2 cups water plus more if needed
• 2 cups onion yellow finely chopped

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• baking sheet
• sauce pan
• pot
• grill
• stove
• tongs

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the meat, eggs, cheese, parsley, oregano, basil, onion, bread crumbs, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper.
2. Add 1 cup of the water. Knead the water into the meat mixture with your hands. Knead and form meatballs into about 1 1/2-inch balls with a 2-ounce scoop (see Chef's Note) or roll into balls with your hands.
3. VAC-PACKED COOKING METHOD: Seal the meatballs with just a teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil and cook them in 130°F water for 35 minutes.
4. Place the meatballs in a large saucepan or skillet on the stove (use 2 pans if they don't all fit in a single pan), add 1/2 cup of the water over them (1/2 cup water to each pan if using 2 pans), and cover. Steam the meatballs over medium heat for about 25 minutes.
5. Transfer to a platter and refrigerate until you're ready to grill them.
6. Turn a gas grill to high or ignite charcoal. When the grill is hot, for both gas and charcoal grills, clean your grill rack. Decrease the temperature to medium-high (on a gas grill only), and brush or wipe a little olive oil on the grill rack.
7. In batches, grill the meatballs in a cast-iron pan or plancha on the grill until they're well-browned all the way around, 4 minutes total for the vac-packed meatballs and about 6 minutes total for the pan-cooked meatballs.
8. Remove from the heat and reserve.
9. Fill a large pot with about 5 quarts of water, add the kosher salt, and bring to a boil over high heat on your stove.
10. Add the pasta and cook until just al dente, 6 to 8 minutes.
11. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.
12. Spread the pasta on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, so it won't stick together.
13. Lightly oil a long, flat grill basket or spritz with nonstick cooking spray. With tongs, add half the pasta to the basket, arranging it in a thin even layer. (If you have two grill baskets, cook both batches of pasta at once.)
14. Place the basket on a rack over hot coals and turn frequently, until the pasta turns a golden color. You'll hear it crackling during grilling.
15. Empty the grill basket into a large heat-proof bowl. Toss the pasta with 1 to 2 cups of Grilled Tomato Sauce. If it needs some moisture, add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water and toss again.
16. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of the pecorino cheese. Toss.
17. Transfer to a serving bowl, top with the remaining pecorino cheese, and serve immediately.
18. It's so much faster to make a meatball with a scoop than with your hands. Scoops make such quick work of certain tasks—shaping meatballs, gougéres, or cookie dough, for example—that I keep a variety of scoop sizes at home as well as at work. If you don't have a 2-ounce scoop for the meatballs, try using a 1/4-cup measure instead. You'll find scoops in most restaurant-supply stores or cookware stores.
19. Reprinted with permission from Michael Chiarello's Live Fire by Michael Chiarello with Ann Krueger Spivack and Claudia Sansone, © 2013 Chronicle Books