Recipe of the Week: Linguine and Meatballs

Here are a few pics of tonight's meal! I paired the Linguine and Meatballs with a side of red leaf salad and a hodge podge of tasty veggies and  a few grapes, topped with oil and vinegar. I had forgotten I actually bought linguine instead of spaghetti, so that's what I made. It worked out perfect, because the homemade marinara sauce was a little creamy with the added Philadelphia Italian Cooking Cream. Creamier sauces pair well with linguine, not so well with spaghetti or angel hair. So yay! I've decided to turn this dinner into "Recipe of the Week". See recipe below or under the "Recipe of the Week" tabk.

Linguine and Meatballs
Serves 4

1/2 package of linguini, follow packaging for cooking instrucitons

Sauce:
1 16oz can of whole or diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, fine dice
2 tsp garlic, diced
2tsp EACH dried basil, thyme, oregano, and rosemary (break the rosemary up in the hand before adding)
1/2tsp crushed red pepper (if desired)
2tbs olive oil
2tsp salt (or to taste)
*you may find that the tomatoes are really acidic in the can, if this is the case, add 1/2-1tsp on sugar

In a medium saucepan, on medium high heat, saute the onion and garlic the the olive oil. Once the onion is softened, add all of the dried herbs and salt. Stir them for 1 minute to release their aroma. Then add tomatoes (if using whole, hand crush them before putting them in, or use a masher once they are in the pan) Turn the heat down to medium and let simmer un-covered for 20min. This let's the water evaporate and flavors to condense. Also, allows the sauce to thicken.

The sauce is ready to eat now, on spaghetti, but since I had linguine, this is where I added the Philadelphia Italian Cooking Cream. Mix it in and let simmer an additional 5 minutes. Now is the time to taste it. If it is still a little weak on flavor, add more basil or oregano. I would be careful with the thyme and rosemary since they have stronger flavors and can over power a sauce more easily. If you add more herbs, turn the heat down to medium low and let simmer while you make the pasta and finish the meatballs.(If you don't like a "rustic" type sauce, use tomato puree instead of whole or diced tomatoes, or when the sauce is done, place it in the blender until you get the desired consistency.)

Meatballs (I like to get these ready while the sauce is simmering):

1lb ground beef (you can use a half and half combo of ground pork and beef, or even turkey. The turkey will have a different end texture, but should still be good)
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
1-2 tsp diced garlic
1tsp dried basil
1tsp dried oregano
1/4-1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs (if using plain bread crumbs, oats, or crushed saltines, increase herbs to 2tsp each)
1 egg
1-2tsp salt or to taste
olive oil

Your hands will work the best for this, so don't be afraid to get a little messy. Mix the meat, diced onion, garlic, herbs, and salt together. Add 1/4c of the bread crumbs and mix together. Add the egg, then mix together some more. Make sure to evenly distribute all of the ingredients. If the mixture still feels moist, aka, gooey, add a few tablespoons of additional bread crumbs at a time. As weird as it sounds, the meat should feel "full", not to dry, not to wet and be able to hold the shape of a meatball.

Once this is done, I like to heat up my saute pan and cook a little piece of the meat to make sure my seasonings are right on. When you like the flavor of the cooked meat, it's time to make some meatballs. With this recipe, you can make about 14 medium, or 20 small meatballs. Medium meatballs is about 3tbs of meat, rolled together and the smaller ones are about 1 1/2tbs of meat.

Roll the meat and place the meatballs in the saute pan as you go, on medium high with a little oil in the pan. This will help to prevent sticking and to help with browning. If you prefer rolling them all first and then cooking, you can totally do that too. The medium size meatballs take about 2 minutes per side, and you want to turn them on all sides. Even browning and  cooked centers are what we are going for. Once they are done, set them aside, drain them on a paper towel if desired. You can also add the meatballs to the sauce before serving.

And there you have it folks, I hope you like it!