One Pot Baked Pasta & Meatballs

Let’s face it. Who isn’t busy at this time of the year? I’m not (ahem, cough, splutter), well I’m not with easy meals like this. Just throw it all into the oven and forget about it.

Make your favourite meatball recipe. I usually add 1 egg, some dried breadcrumbs and a few of my favourite Italian style herbs to ground beef and roll into balls.

Spray a baking dish lightly with oil, place your pasta in the dish and the meatballs on top. 

I used the Barilla fusilli pasta and the Cheese and Tomato Pasta Bake sauce. Barilla have made it easy for family dinners with a larger 540ml sized sauce for quick easy meals such as this. This Cheese and Tomato sauce has all the flavours of your typical Italian style pasta bake with an authentic, rich Italian flavour. (There is nothing but real tomatoes, real onions and real garlic in the Barilla range of sauces. That’s why I love them so much.)

Once I poured the pasta sauce over the pasta and meatballs, I added an extra half a jar of water and poured that over the top. Cover the baking dish with alfoil and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, take off the alfoil and give a good stir. You’ll find the pasta and meatballs have cooked.

Top with a little grated cheese and return to the oven until melted and golden brown.

Serve with a side salad and garlic bread and dinner is on the table in just on 30 minutes. This could also be done in the slow cooker. A good way to not heat the house up at this time of the year in the southern hemisphere. Buon appetito!

One Pot Baked Pasta & Meatballs

• 500 grams ground beef
• 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
• 1 egg, to bind
• selection of Italian style herbs
• half box of Barilla Fusilli pasta (or enough pasta of your choice to serve your family)
• 1 x 540ml jar Barilla Cheese & Tomato Pasta Bake sauce 
• oil spray
• grated cheese of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C.
2. Mix ground beef, dried breadcrumbs, beaten egg and dried herbs.
3. Form into meatballs.
4. Lightly spray a suitable baking pan (or slow cooker dish).
5. Add pasta and meatballs.
6. Top with pasta sauce plus half the jar of water then cover with alfoil.
7. Bake in oven for approximately 20 minutes (or 3 hours on high in a slow cooker).
8. Remove from oven, take off alfoil and sprinkle with grated cheese. (If cooking in a slow cooker, add cheese and once melted, serve.)
9. Return to the oven until cheese has melted.
10. Serve with a side salad and garlic bread.

Disclaimer: I was given a selection of Barilla products to try. All opinions, thoughts and photos are my own.

Asian style meatballs on a rice noodle salad

I love how versatile the humble meatball is. By adding garlic and basil you’ve got an Italian style meatball. Same as if you add garlic, ginger and/or chilli you could knock up these tasty Asian style meatballs.

I was really getting low on vegetables but thinly sliced cucumber and celery was all I needed for the rice noodle salad. The dressing was a light and tangy vinaigrette. Topped with a few toasted cashews for crunch and the meal was done. I baked these meatballs so even less fat.

Its amazing how many variations you can get with ground meat whether its beef, chicken, pork, veal or even fish. I can’t wait to try this recipe with pork or chicken mince.

Asian Style Meatballs on a Rice Noodle Salad

• 250gm ground beef
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
• salt & pepper
• half a pack of rice stick noodles, softened in boiling water
• cucumber
• celery 
• 1.1/2 tbs rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbs sweet chili sauce + extra to serve
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1. Mix ground beef, beaten egg, ginger, garlic, dried breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. 
2. Form into small meatballs and place on a tray lined with baking paper.
3. Bake for approx 20 mins.
4. Combine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and olive oil and stir until sugar has dissolved.
5. Toss through rice noodles combined with celery and cucumber.
6. Place meatballs on top and add extra sweet chili sauce to taste.

Swedish Meatballs in Gravy

 

 

I swear, the 20th of the month comes around quicker and quicker each month. No sooner have I picked out my recipe and the day before arrives and I find myself rushing to cook it. This month I was delighted to be paired up with Amber from “Dessert Now, Dinner Later!“.

 

 

Monday is just crazy for us with Cub Scouts for my daughter and it starts at 6pm which is our usual dinner time. The days are shorter now too so its dark early so I’d like to get dinner done a bit earlier and Amber’s Ikea Swedish Meatballs were just the perfect option. I had them done in about 20 minutes flat.

 

Now, I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of Ikea around. I’ve probably been about 3 times in my life and tried their meatballs once. I am NOT a fan of their prepacked furniture but don’t mind the kitchenware or home furnishings. But I don’t remember their meatballs tasting this good. This was a great, basic recipe but the gravy was tasty and complemented the meatballs and pasta noodles perfectly. Amber is a Mum and a culinary graduate but the meals aren’t overly fancy or difficult. They all sound gorgeous and I can’t wait to try more, in particular some of her desserts. Thanks Amber for the recipe and getting to know you. This meatball recipe is definitely a keeper.

If you’d like to see who everyone else got as their Surprise Recipe Swap partner and what they were cooking, head on over to Hungry Little Girl. Or, alternatively, why not join in on the action and sign up to be part of next month’s swap. The more the merrier.

Meatball Sub/Wrap - 4 ways

I’m trying to eat lean protein during the day but I want something that’s quick to throw together but with a little bit of sustenance. I thought I’d make some meatballs with standard spices, like dried coriander, dried cumin, garlic and onion powder and a bit of chilli and then pop them into bags of 3 for the freezer. I just defrost and add them to a wrap or a sub (long breadroll) with whatever salads I have and add flavoured yoghurts and sauces, depending on which country I’d like to think I’m in for the day!

 

I make my own non fat Greek yoghurt which I have for breakfast, use in baking and cooking and it also makes a great sauce or ‘spread’ for these types of sandwiches. Just adding your favourite herbs, citrus zest or juice, salsa, chilli sauce, whatever is in your pantry or fridge, will always add another flavour dimension to your favourite lunch snack.

 

 

Basic Meatballs

• ground beef/veal/lamb/pork (or combination)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp each of dried coriander, dried cumin, garlic and onion powders
• chilli powder (optional)
• salt & pepper
• splash of extra virgin olive oil (or spray on a non stick pan)

1. Mix ingredients well, shape into small balls and fry in a non stick pan with either a splash of extra virgin olive oil or spray. Alternatively,  you can dry bake in the oven.

[photo source]

Greek

• lettuce
• tomatoes
• cucumber
• capsicum (bell pepper)
• feta cheese
• red onion
• Kalamata olives
• tzatziki (yoghurt, garlic and cucumber dip)

[photo source]

Italian

chargrilled capsicum (bell peppers)

red onion

gremolata (lemon zest & parsley)

marinara sauce (passata)

kalamata olives

garlic sauce (yoghurt & garlic)

Moroccan

• lettuce
• tabouli (parsley, diced tomato, burghul, mint etc)
• coriander & yoghurt sauce

Mexican

• salsa
• guacamole
• lettuce
• corn

 



Pasta e polpette (Pasta and Meatballs)

On Tuesday night, a friend of my husband’s from Melbourne was up here in Brisbane for work and wanted to catch up with us. We hadn’t seen her for about 8 years which just sounded ridiculous. A real, live, adult, grown up person to share food with us. Unbelievable! Not another 6 year old girl or a 4 year old boy (not that we have them over for dinner) but another older person who we could actually have a dinner conversation with. I used to love entertaining and throwing dinner parties, but since the kids, they have been few and far between.

Being a Tuesday night, I really didn’t want to go to a lot of trouble because I would’ve just put myself under too much stress (dealing with the normal evening routine with the kids) so opted for an easy meatball recipe in my famous Bacon & Tomato Sauce (Pancetta e pomodoro sugo). I use this sauce a lot, just to add a nice smoky flavour to the rich tomato sauce. It goes well with Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne or Cannelloni too.

Pasta and Meatballs in Bacon & Tomato Sauce

500gm pasta (I chose rigatoni)

Meatballs:
500gm beef/veal/pork mince (any combination or any one on it’s own)
1 egg
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs (or more if mixture is too wet)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried onion flakes
salt & pepper
(you can add grated or pureed vegies at this point to get more vegies into your kids)

Mix all ingredients together. Roll into small balls and place on greased or baking paper lined baking trays and bake in a 180 deg C oven until cooked (approx 20 mins).

Sauce:
2 cans diced Roma Tomatoes
2 onions, diced
2 rashers bacon, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 tbs tomato paste
1 tbs dried basil
1 tbs dried oregano
500ml stock
salt & pepper

Fry off onions, bacon and garlic in EVOO. Add tomato paste and stir for 2 mins. Add canned tomatoes and other ingredients. Reduce to a simmer and allow sauce to reduce and thicken (approx 1 hour or more). Add meatballs. Once pasta is cooked, add a couple tablespoons of sauce to pasta. Put into a serving bowl. Pile meatballs and sauce onto pasta and sprinkle with pecorino or parmesan cheese and/or chopped parsley. Serve with garlic bread.

Serves approx 6-8 adults.