Spaghetti & Meatballs

#italian #dormfriendly #beginner #glutenfree #dairyfree

COOKING LEVEL: noob beginner standard

Requires a new experience of shaping meatballs as one of 3-parts of the recipe.

Serving Size: 4-5 Total Cooking Time: 1hr.

INGREDIENTS

• Marinara sauce (see our recipe)

• 1 lb ground beef

• Dairy-free parmesan cheese

• GF spaghetti noodles

• 1/2 white onion, diced

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced

• a few sprigs of fresh basil

• 1/2 tbsp dried oregano

• 1 tbsp chili lime seasoning from TJ's

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

1. In a pot, boil water in medium high heat.

2. When the water is almost ready, add 1 tsp of salt. This will help flavor the pasta as it boils.

3. Cook the pasta according to packaging instructions. Drain and set aside. DO NOT run cold water through it.

4. In a medium bowl, mix ground beef + chili lime seasoning + salt + pepper. I find using my hands easiest since I'm going to form meatballs anyway.

5. Add the finely diced onion to the ground beef and mix.

6. Prepare a piece of parchment paper over a cutting board to tray for your meatballs.

7. Wearing some gloves, start forming golf ball sized meatballs. Don't worry about them being too big, we'll break them down during cooking.

8. Once you run out of your beef, prepare a saucepan at medium heat.

9. Add olive oil + garlic to the saucepan.

10. Once the garlic starts to smell fragrant, add enough meatballs to fill the pan. Make sure they aren't touching each other.

11. Every 3-5 minutes, flip over each meatball till all sides are cooked.

12. Once your meatballs are near done, lower the heat to medium-low.

13. Add your marinara sauce to the pan.

14. When it starts to simmer (small bubbles), use your spatula or wooden spoon to gently break down the meatballs. We're creating mini meatballs to ensure the inside is cooked all the way.

15. Add oregano + 1/2 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp black pepper to the sauce and stir, coating the meatballs.

16. To serve, pour out some pasta to a plate, scoop some marinara sauce, and place a few meatballs. Top the pasta some fresh basil and parmesan cheese.
    

Recipe Notes:

• This recipe sets a great foundation or other pasta recipes. You can replace marinara sauce with vodka sauce or carbonara. Substitute the meatballs with italian sausage or ham pieces. You can use farfalle or linguine pasta instead of long spaghetti.

• A healthier way of cooking would be to bake the meatballs at 375F for 10 min. This way you can lessen the amount of oil but get a bigger meatball.