Speedy Spaghetti & Meatballs

I know what you are thinking, meatballs are not speedy. They are something you might make if you were feeling very ambitious and had a lot of time on your hands. Well, not true. I made this dinner in a half hour. Yep, that makes it a 30 minute meal. I am sure that Ms. Ray has done this before so you can too.

This recipe doesn’t call for eggs, bread, or milk. It works beautifully.

Here is the game plan. Enlist a grater, this makes quick work of the onion and garlic and the smaller pieces will keep from falling apart and add moisture. I made this with scrumptious, local, grass-fed beef. If you do the same be sure not to over cook them.

1 lb ground beef
1/2 small onion, grated (super fast)
1 clove garlic, grated
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp crushed coriander (optional)
1 tsp paprika
pinch of chili flakes
salt & pepper

1-2 cups of your favorite tomato sauce (roasted cherry tomato sauce)
glug of red wine or similar for deglazing the pan
some great cheese to grate on top, like:
pecorino romano (sheep’s milk), or a raw parmigiano reggiano (cow’s milk)

Combine all the ingredients with your hands, get dirty! Don’t over mix. Heat a fry pan over moderate heat and add some oil. With your hands make small balls of the meat and set into the hot pan. Keep filling until almost full, do in batches if necessary. After a couple minutes give the pan a shake to loosen them. Turn to get even color and remove from pan when browned. It is not necessary to cook them through, they will continue to cook when you add them to the sauce. Meanwhile, heat the water for the pasta. When it comes to a boil salt the water and add the pasta and cook until al dente (almost cooked through).

When the meatballs are all browned and removed from the pan add some red wine to deglaze. Pour it in the hot pan and scrape up all the bits, then add some tomato sauce, 1-2 cups depending on how saucy you like your pasta. Put the meatballs back into the pan to cook through and keep hot while the pasta finishes. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce first if you like or serve separately. I usually toss the pasta in the sauce first, but the boys requested separate for today and I obliged, until the pasta cooled and started to stick together.

Almost everything was gone. I managed to save a few meatballs for lunches tomorrow

Tagged as: beef, fast, meatballs, pasta, quick, weeknight