Homemade Tomato Sauce and Meatballs with Curly Pasta

In my opinion, one of the biggest oversights in the realm of quick cooking meals is spaghetti and meatballs. Years ago, I used to think that Italian food needed hours to cook and, as a result, I simply didn't make very much Italian food. The truth is that this recipe is so easy and so fast and just so delicious that you and your kids will thank you for it. If you don't have time during the week, then try it on a Sunday evening. You will quickly realize that the quality of flavor far surpasses the extra time it takes to chop an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic. And, once the meatballs are in the sauce, you are nearly home free! If we can do it in 30 minutes, so can you!   It's so easy!

First, we mixed together all the ingredients for the meatballs. Here we are gating fresh Parmesan cheese on a microplane.

We chopped fresh parsley in a vegetable chopper! The kids loved this part. This is a Pampered Chef tool (but there are other brands out there) and is so great for kids because it allows them to safely chop vegetables...and it gives them permission to make a lot of noise!

Look at how excited the kids were to roll out their own meatballs!

In the interest of time, we sauteed them in a pan while we made the sauce in a different pot.

We chopped and sauteed onions...

...then we peeled and chopped garlic to add it to the sauce. The kids used a garlic peeler to remove the garlic skin -- this is another great tool for kids for working in the kitchen. 

Then we chopped more fresh parsley for the tomato sauce!

A note about pasta: So, before I made my way to brown rice (gluten free) pasta, my absolute favorite way to enjoy meatballs and spaghetti was with angel hair pasta. My slow transition from "straight up" angel hair to brown rice pasta was with this brand: Barilla. The Barilla Plus pasta is made with lentils, chickpeas, flaxseed, barley, oats and spelt. These ingredients give this pasta protein, fiber and omega 3. 

We had some happy eaters in class! Mrs. Dory even joined the Green Room to enjoy our delicious creation...and the Blue Room rated this food "Two thumbs up!" And, it was so exciting to see how much the kids loved this meal. Those who usually ask for plain pasta were encouraged to try the meatballs on a separate plate. Many of them asked for seconds and thirds (in some cases), but they also asked for the pasta, sauce and meatballs to be served in the same bowl.

Quote of the Day: "Mrs. Diana, you know what? I thought this was going to be really yucky, but its actually really yummy."

Homemade Tomato Sauce and Meatballs with Curly Pasta
(Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa)

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1 container of meatloaf mix (contains pork, beef and veal)

1/2 cup seasoned Panko bread crumbs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 extra-large egg, beaten

Vegetable oil

Olive oil

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon good olive oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:

1 box of spiral pasta, cooked according to package directions

Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Place the ground meat, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 1/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the brown sugar until it is mostly dissolved. Then add the onion and sauté over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the vinegar and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked curly pasta and pass the grated Parmesan!