Jack Lemmon’s character famously strains spaghetti using a tennis racket in “The Apartment,” so I knew that’s what I had to make for this pairing.

We watched this movie to celebrate our engagement, and our honeymoon was spent in Italy, so I figured this was extra appropriate as we prepare to celebrate our first wedding anniversary on Monday.

This vegan, gluten-free recipe for spaghetti and meatballs makes 3 “servings.”

Ingredients
6 ounces vegan, gluten-free spaghetti
12 vegan, gluten-free, Italian-style meatballs
1.5 cups vegan, gluten-free pasta sauce
vegan parmesan (optional)

Instructions
Boil the spaghetti according to its packaging instructions.

In a saucepan over medium high heat, cook your meatballs in the pasta sauce, stirring occasionally. If the sauce starts to boil or “pop,” reduce heat to simmer.

Strain the spaghetti (hopefully with a strainer and not a tennis racket) and plate it.

Top with the meatball sauce.

Sprinkle a little parmesan over the top as you like and enjoy with “The Apartment!”

The Easy Route
You might be able to find a premade meatball sauce or a whole frozen vegan, gluten-free spaghetti dinner at the store.

Know of a restaurant that makes this dish for delivery or takeout? Please share those details in the comments.

The Pairing
I adore “The Apartment.” Jack Lemmon and Shirley’s MacLaine are both magnificent, effortlessly blending comedy and drama in this timeless tale from beloved filmmaker Billy Wilder.

If you’ve never seen any movies from any of these icons, “The Apartment” is a great place to start.

The film centers on C.C. Baxter (Lemmon), who, in an attempt to get ahead at work, lets his superiors use his apartment to conduct their affairs with women.

As his professional goals are met and he’s climbing the ladder at work, things get complicated when Fran Kubelik (MacLaine), an elevator operator at his office building who he has a thing for, shows up at his apartment with one of his superiors.

On top of Lemmon and MacLaine, the supporting cast is outstanding, in particular Fred MacMurray in a rare semi-villainous role that is worth the price of admission.

Wilder is an icon of the film industry for a reason, writing and directing some of the best films ever, including deeply beloved romcoms like this.

While there are some darker, more dramatic scenes (especially for 1960) in this film, I would still firmly place it in the romcom oeuvre.

“The Apartment” rightfully won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, and it is incredibly rare for a romcom to achieve that feat, especially as time has gone on. I would even say romcoms are right up there with horror in genres that are often thought of by cinephile-centered institutions as “low-brow” or for the masses, not worthy of being included as awards contenders.

I, of course, do not agree, and as someone who has seen hundreds of romcoms, most of them do not even come close to the brilliance of “The Apartment,” “The Philadelphia Story,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “10 Things I Hate About You” and other masterpieces of the genre.

I think when a truly great one pops up, like “Always Be My Maybe” or “Rye Lane” (coming soon to the blog) in recent years, it should be receiving just as many accolades as films like “Oppenheimer” or “CODA.” I will end this tangent here before I get too in the weeds.

The bottom line on “The Apartment” is that it is a major milestone in romcoms, and a classic that should be seen by everyone who loves that genre.

If you decide to make spaghetti with meatballs and/or watch “The Apartment,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes