Easy Peasy Spaghetti & Meatballs

When I was little, spaghetti was the first thing I learned how to make.  It’s probably one of the easiest meals you can make.  Just boil some water, add the pasta, and cook until al dente.  Back then I liked my spaghetti topped with only butter and Parmesan cheese.  Marinara sauce was nasty to my young taste buds.  Luckily I’ve expanded my palate since then, and I decided that tonight I should go back to the days of my youth and make spaghetti and meatballs.

Here’s what you’ll need:

spaghetti noodles

1lb ground beef (or your ground meet of choice…turkey is a healthy option)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 whole eggs

salt & pepper

your favorite pasta sauce (normally I would have made my own from scratch, but Steve and I were super hungry, so I just decided on the quick store bought version)

Start by putting your ground beef (or meat of choice) into a medium bowl.

Add the minced garlic.  Garlic belongs in just about everything as far as I’m concerned….except dessert probably.

Add the bread crumbs.  I used Italian bread crumbs that were already pre-packaged.  You can make your own bread crumbs by finely chopping a few bread slices in a food processor.

Next comes the Parmesan cheese!  If you have freshly grated cheese that would be best, but since the only fresh grated cheese I had was cheddar, I opted for the store bought Parmesan in a can.  I love finding the large clumps and popping them in my mouth.  Yum!  Takes me back to the days when I was a youngster in my mom’s kitchen.

Add the eggs and the salt and pepper.

Then get your hands all grody and squish and mix that bowl’s contents until everything is thoroughly combined.  I always have trouble with this because the meat is so cold that I can’t keep my hand in there for long periods of time without freezing my fingers off.

Next pre-heat your oven to 400° and get out a large cookie sheet.  Roll the meat into 2 inch balls.  You can adjust the size depending on how big you want your meatballs.  Then pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Now boil some water in a large pot.  This was the pot that burned my wrist the other night!  Bad pot!  To see the picture of my burned wrist click here and scroll to the very last picture.

Toss in some spaghetti noodles.  In my case, Dreamfields Pasta, which is a low carb pasta.  5 net carbs per serving.  Can’t beat it!  For those of you on a low carb diet, this will really help with the carb cravings.  You can usually find at least a couple variety of pasta shapes in this brand at your local grocery store.  You  can also visit their website: Dreamfields Pasta

Here’s where we cheat and use pre-made pasta sauce.  Shhh…don’t tell The Pioneer Woman!

Heat sauce in, what else? — a sauce pan!

Drain pasta when al dente (when it still has a little bit of a bite to it….not completely soft and smooshy), and add it back to the pot.

Pour sauce over pasta, but make sure to reserve some to pour on top when everything is plated.

Toss to coat everything evenly.

Remove your meatballs from the oven.  See how the cheese is oozing out of them?  Yum!

Add spaghetti to a plate and place several meatballs on top.  Then use your reserved pasta sauce to cover the meatballs.  Sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and you are good to go!  Enjoy!