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1
Drain tomatoes, reserving juice in a large bowl.
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2
Crush tomatoes with your hands and add to juice.
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3
Cook onions in oil in pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
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4
Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes.
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5
Stir in tomatoes with their juice, 4 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.
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6
Simmer sauce, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
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7
Season with salt.
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8
Cook onions in extra-virgin olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
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9
Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.
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10
Transfer to a large bowl to cool.
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11
Soak bread in milk in another bowl until soft, about 5 minutes.
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12
Firmly squeeze bread to remove excess milk, discarding milk.
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13
Stir together cooled onion mixture, bread, eggs, parmesan, parsley, oregano, lemon zest, 51/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoon pepper until combined.
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14
Add meats to bread mixture, gently mixing with your hands until just combined (do not overmix).
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15
Form meat mixture into about 70 (1 1/2-inch) balls with dampened hands, arranging meatballs on 2 large baking sheets or in shallow baking pans.
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16
Heat olive or vegetable oil (1 cup) in a 12-inch heavy skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown meatballs in 4 or 5 batches (without crowding), turning frequently, about 5 minutes per batch.
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17
Return to baking sheets.
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18
Add meatballs to sauce and gently simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes.
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19
(If pot is not large enough, divide meatballs and sauce between 2 pots.)
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20
Cook spaghetti in 2 batches in pasta insert in boiling salted water (3 tablespoon salt for 6 qt water) until just al dente, draining and tossing each batch with some of sauce in a large serving dish.
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21
Serve with meatballs, remaining sauce, and grated cheese.
