Spaghetti and Meatballs – The Fat Mama way!
I’m still working on that last twenty pounds, and it gets harder with each pound I drop. I don’t want to be left out of family meals, but pasta r3eally pumps my blood sugar up. So, what is to be done?
First get everything that you will need in place, I open cans of different tomatoes, even a can of tomato soup if I’m short on tomatoes! 3 or 4 cans of 32ounce size tomatoes, 3 or 4 onions, depending on you. How many can you chop comfortably? San Marzano tomatoes, are a variety of plum tomato, considered by many chefs to be the best of its kind in the world. The canned variety is superior in taste, at least in my opinion. But they can be pricy! Some stores have a house brand that are San Marzano like, and they are pretty darn good in sauce too. Some good red wine, or if all you have is white, add a dash or two of good balsamic vinegar and use the white to deglaze your onion skillet.
I love Dream Fields pasta, it tastes like good pasta, but is treated to prevent complete absorption of all the carbohydrates. That only works once, when the pasta is first cooked, so only cook as much as you plan to eat. Toss any left overs. http://www.trydreamfields.com
There is another type of pasta that I’m eager to try, but haven’t done so, at least not yet. Let me know if any of you have tried it.
http://www.questnutrition.com/pasta/
There are 2 servings per container and only 10 calories per serving. Yup, I read that over and over, so I’ll have to try it.
Remember – I feed at least 6 adults with this, and whoever else is here at dinner time. Feel free to cut it in half!
1. 4 cans of tomatoes – get ready cut, petit dice, whatever you wish, if you get whole, you will have to crush those in your hand before adding them to the pot. But make sure you get one can of sauce. Unless you have all day to let it simmer. I avoid tomato paste, as I think it can make the sauce bitter. If you use it, it will thicken your sauce, but make sure you add lots of tomatoes!
2. 4 onions chopped - saute the onions with the garlic, and herbs before adding them to the sauce.
3. One head of garlic peeled, crushed and chopped
4. 1 to 2 teaspoons Dried Herbs of choice – I like to use Basil, Marjoram, Rosemary, and some Oregano – if you have fresh, use them, but you will have to use a bit more of the fresh ones.. Dried work well too. Save your chopped parsley until the last hour of cooking. It is a bit more delicate and does not stand up to a long simmer.
5. Salt and only if you like it, black Pepper
7. A sprinkle of sugar if the sauce is too tart.
Saute the chopped onions, garlic and herbs in a skillet with a little olive oil. Once the onions start to become translucent, and the garlic and herbs are fragrant, add the red wine, stir and add to your sauce pot, or in my case it’s my slow cooker. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and let cook. I like to let the sauce simmer all day, 4 to 5 hours is good, with the lid propped slightly so the sauce thickens.
Tomatoes in my crock pot.
De-glazing the onion skillet with wine.
1. 1 pound of lean ground beef
2. 1 pound lean ground turkey
3. 1 pound lean ground pork
4. 1 to 2 pounds of sausage, I just get bulk pork sausage. You can use turkey sausage if you like.
6. 1 cup Panko Bread crumbs
7. 1 teaspoon / pound of meat of: Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and a bit of pepper
8. ½ to 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
If you don’t mind chunks of onion in your meat balls, use a whole onion chopped fine and a tablespoon of finely chopped garlic. Sautee all in a skillet, and set aside until they are cool, then mix them into the meat with eggs, breadcrumbs, and cheese. If you mix in hot vegies, you risk melting the meat fat and making tough meatballs.
After you have mixed everything thoroughly, yes with your hands. I use a glove on one hand, if I have any scuffs or cuts, which I almost always do. I like to use my tablespoon cookie scoop to measure out my meat balls. Use whatever size you want and scoop the mix into a hot skillet. As the meat gets brown remove from the skillet and toss into the tomato sauce to finish. If the skillet ends up with “fond” or browned bits stuck to the bottom of it, hit it with a little more wine and scrape that pan! That’s flavor right there.
Mix the turkey, sausage, lean ground pork and ground beef, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, as well as salt and herbs. Mix well, and measure out.
Yes, my husband is a joker, this is his photo. I like to set the measured scoops out on a sheet pan, and roll them into balls. As I brown them in a skillet, I remove them to a the sheet pan that has the cooked meat balls.
I use a scoop to make meatballs that are very close in size. That ensures that everything cooks at the same time.
Brown the meat balls in a skillet or, if you like, you may brown them in the oven. Put them into the sauce to finish cooking, leave the lid on the sauce, but propped up to allow the sauce to reduce.
Cook pasta per package directions, taste the pasta as it cooks, it should still have a bit of resistance to the bite. Toss the pasta in your skillet with a ladle full of sauce, coil if you want to be fancy, and add more sauce and some meat balls. Serve with a green salad.
Handmade pasta is a whole new post! (But making noodles is FUN!)
Make sure that you toss that pasta in the sauce, top with more sauce and meat balls, serve with Wine and green salad.
Eating Spaghetti the Fat Mama Way!
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