Super Fast Spaghetti & Meatballs
As I am slowing down quite a bit with less than two weeks to go until my due date, I have tried to make pretty simple dinners. I adapted this recipe from the most recent issue of Everyday Food. Instead of actually making meatballs, you simply remove sausage from its casing and roll into mini meatballs. You make a simple tomato sauce with canned tomatoes and onions. The sausage imparts some nice flavor on the sauce as well.
The recipe in Everyday Food called for pork sausage and regular spaghetti. I substituted turkey sausage and whole wheat pasta to make it a bit more healthy.
Since it was just two of us, I used about 1/4 to 1/3 of a box of spaghetti. We had lots of leftover sauce and meatballs which we froze for a quick post-baby meal!
It was an easy but tasty dinner that we enjoyed along with a salad.
And, as a side note, a meatball fell on the floor and received the Labradoodle Seal of Approval from Angus.
Easy Spaghetti & Meatballs
Adapted from Everyday Food
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1.5 pounds hot Italian turkey sausage
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cans of whole tomatoes in juice (28 ounces each)
- Whole wheat spaghetti
- Salt and pepper
Remove sausage from casings. Roll into 20 to 30 small “meatballs”.
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Remove with slotted spoon and place on a plate.
Add remaining olive oil and chopped onion to pan. Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until softened — about 5 minutes. Add whole tomatoes and juices to pan. Break tomatoes up with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and add meatballs. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile boil a large pot of water for the spaghetti. Salt water before adding pasta and cooking according to directions on the package.
Serve sauce and meatballs over spaghetti.
Recipe produces enough sauce for 6 servings.
Glad you are still hanging in there Jessica. Still cooking, too. I never removed Italian sausage from casings and rolled into mini-meatballs but sounds like a fun idea. (I did remove some particularly thick casings and slice sausages into discs once and then cooked them with peppers and onions and served on hoagie rolls–yum). I, too, made my spaghetti sauce on Thursday. Rob and Nicola are here studying for exams and it is coming in handy for microwaving during study breaks. Take care.