G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Yep. I checked a handful of pork/meatball recipes, and for 1 lb ground pork, you can keep this very simple. The common backbone is pork + egg + breadcrumbs + garlic/herbs; the proportions vary, but roughly ¼–½ cup breadcrumbs and 1 egg per pound is well within the normal range. citeturn0search1turn0search8

For pasta with tomato sauce, I'd do:

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 large egg
• ⅓ cup plain breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan, if you have it
• 2 cloves garlic, minced very fine — or ¾ tsp garlic powder
• ¾ tsp kosher salt (or ~½ tsp table salt)
• ¾ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried basil
• 2–3 tbsp milk — optional, but I'd use it; gives the breadcrumbs some moisture and makes the little meatballs less dense
• No black pepper whatsoever

That gives you a pretty conventional Italian-ish pork meatball without trying to turn it into an elaborate recipe. Oregano + basil are the two spices/herbs I'd choose here. Garlic does a lot of the remaining work.

Making them

Mix the egg + milk + breadcrumbs first and let that sit about 2–3 minutes. Then mix in Parmesan, garlic, salt, oregano and basil. Finally add the pork and gently work everything together just until evenly distributed. Overworking ground meat tends to give you firmer, rubberier meatballs.

For your size, I'd aim around 1¼ inches, roughly a heaping tablespoon each. A pound should land somewhere around 22–28 little meatballs, depending on exactly how you roll them. Food Network's comparable mini-meatballs use a heaping tablespoon and get 24 from a pound of meat mixture. citeturn0search3

Easiest cooking method

Since they're going with pasta, I'd brown them and finish them in the sauce.

Put a thin film of olive oil in a skillet over medium/medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs in batches, turning them so you get color on several sides—you're not trying to cook them completely through yet. Then put them into your simmering pasta sauce and give them roughly 10–15 minutes, depending on size.

The USDA temperature for ground pork is 160°F in the center. citeturn0search6turn0search17

One small adjustment I'd specifically make for all-pork meatballs: don't go nuts with the breadcrumbs. ⅓ cup is enough structure for little meatballs while still letting them taste like pork rather than stuffing. Parmesan is optional, but if it's available, I'd absolutely put the ¼ cup in.

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Absolutely. If what you've got is plain canned tomato sauce—the smooth puréed stuff—you don't actually need chunky tomatoes. I checked against a few basic tomato-sauce recipes, and garlic/onion + olive oil + oregano/basil is essentially the standard foundation. citeturn0search0turn0search2

For the 1 lb of pork meatballs + pasta, I'd make roughly this much:

• 2 × 15-oz cans tomato sauce
• 1½ tbsp olive oil
• ½ small onion, finely diced — optional but worthwhile
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¾ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried basil
• ½ tsp salt, then adjust
• ½ tsp sugar, optional — only if the finished sauce tastes noticeably sharp/acidic
• ¼–½ cup pasta water, as needed

No pepper.

Do this in the same pan you browned the meatballs in. That's actually an advantage—you'll pick up the browned pork flavor.

Cook the onion in the oil/pork drippings over medium heat for about 4–5 minutes. Add garlic for 30–60 seconds. Pour in the tomato sauce, oregano and salt. Scrape up the browned stuff from the bottom.

Then put your browned meatballs into the sauce and gently simmer 15–20 minutes. Add the basil toward the end. If it gets thicker than you want, add a splash of pasta water. Basic sauces commonly simmer the tomato with softened onion/garlic and herbs; even 10–20 minutes is enough to noticeably improve canned tomato flavor. citeturn0search0turn0search2

One thing I would not do: automatically add sugar. Taste it after the meatballs have simmered. Pork, browned onion and Parmesan from the meatballs will already push things sweeter/richer. If it's still aggressively tomato-acidic, then add ½ teaspoon sugar, stir, and taste again.

And if you discover a can of diced/whole tomatoes, tell me what size it is. We can incorporate it, but I wouldn't go hunting for one—the smooth sauce will work perfectly well for this particular meal.

G: Yep—the 28 oz crushed tomatoes are actually a better main base, so I'd make those the bulk of the sauce and use whatever tomato sauce you have just to smooth it out.

For your 1 lb pork meatballs + pasta, use:

• 28 oz crushed tomatoes
• 8 oz tomato sauce — anywhere from about 6–12 oz is fine
• 1½ tbsp olive oil
• ½ small onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¾ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried basil
• ¾ tsp salt to start, then taste
• ¼–½ cup pasta water, only if needed
• ½ tsp sugar, optional, only after tasting

Cook the onion in the olive oil (or the pan you browned the meatballs in) for about 4–5 minutes. Add garlic for about 30 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, and salt.

Bring it to a gentle simmer, add the browned meatballs, and simmer 15–20 minutes, stirring carefully once or twice. Add the basil during the last ~5 minutes. Taste at the end and adjust salt; only add the sugar if the tomatoes are unpleasantly sharp.

With 28 oz crushed + 8 oz sauce, you'll have about 4½ cups, which is a nice amount for a pound of meatballs and roughly 12–16 oz dry pasta. It'll also be more textured and tomato-forward than the earlier all-tomato-sauce version.

If you're short enough on tomato sauce that you don't even want to spend 8 oz, 28 oz crushed + 4 oz sauce is completely fine. You don't actually need the tomato sauce at all; it's mostly buying you a slightly smoother consistency.

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Yes—pesto is worth adding, but it won't behave merely like "dried basil, only better." I checked specifically for cooks/recipes that combine green pesto with tomato sauce rather than just reasoning from the ingredient lists.

Michael Symon has a tomato-pesto pasta that does essentially what you're contemplating: makes the tomato sauce separately, then stirs pesto into the pasta and tomato sauce at the end, off the heat. Food Network also has a simpler recipe explicitly combining pesto and tomato sauce. So this is an established flavor combination, not just something that ought to work chemically. citeturn0search0turn0search1

For your pot, though, I'd use it as a finishing accent:

Start with 1 tablespoon pesto. When the meatballs and sauce are essentially finished, turn the heat to low or off, stir it in, wait ~30 seconds, and taste. If you like where it's going, add another tablespoon.

I probably wouldn't exceed 2 tablespoons for your ~32–36 oz of tomato unless you deliberately want a tomato-pesto sauce.

The reason it's meaningfully different from simply adding basil is that your pesto is bringing basil + olive oil + garlic + Parmesan/other hard cheese + nuts. So you'll get a slightly richer, rounder, more savory sauce along with the fresh-basil character. And adding it late matters: Symon's recipe likewise keeps the pesto separate during the long tomato simmer and incorporates it after the pasta enters the sauce. citeturn0search0

So given what you're making, I'd do it. In fact, I'd prefer 1–2 tbsp pesto at the end over adding dried basil now. You've already got oregano, garlic, pork drippings/meatballs, and tomato doing the cooked/deep side of the flavor. The pesto adds something the sauce currently doesn't have: a fresher, aromatic, fatty/herbal top layer.

And yes, chemesthesis is the word we were batting around—the sensory category involving chemical stimulation such as cooling, burning, tingling, astringency, etc. Your broader point applies here: knowing that compounds are compatible isn't equivalent to evidence that humans actually like the resulting sensory experience, which is why checking actual recipes was useful here.