MeatBalls n’ Pasta
// August 3rd, 2009 // Computers
Meatballs and Spaghetti is one of my favourite meals.
My wife does not like spaghetti and is not too fond of strong napolitana sauce; so this is an improvisation that I put together on a Sunday night.
I am very attentive to the fat content of my dishes, so I use a few tricks to keep the oil and fat to an absolute minimum.
Double click on any of the images to enlarge.

Using your hands, mix the ingrediants together and roll into smallish metballs and set aside.

Then grate an onion and coursley chop the last little bit and put into a pot with a little olive oil. This is for your napolitana sauce. Use the juice from the tinned tomatos to keep the onions moist whilst you are braising them, rather than adding more oil.

Once your onions have been braised and are nice and soft, then add a tin of Italian Tomatos, Chopped Garlic, Chopped Green Pepper, Ground Black Pepper and whatever spices or flavourings you prefer - such as a dash of wine, herbs, chilli or whatever you feel like.

Meanwhile on a medium heated pan, with no added oil - I just use a liberal coating of spray and cook- braise each side of your meatballs. Basically you want to firm the sides up so that you can place in oven.

Your napolitana sauce would have reduced a bit, I then added the little bit of milk left over from soaking the bread. My wife is not fond of strong napolitana, so I had to improvise and meet her halfway - thus the next steps. You can add tomato paste, which is essential if you want the correct napolitana flavour.

I then melted a little butter in a glass jug, the microwave, and added some flour to make a roux for the bechamel (white) sauce

I am on a low fat diet, so I place the meatballs on a grill so that the fat can drip out and then place in the oven on 180' celcius

You can see how nicely the sauce has reduced and the flavours are starting to distinguism themselves. Its at this point that you add some salt, allow to cook for a few more minutes and then add some sugar - approx half the amount of salt that you added.

You then add your raw white sauce mixture into the tomato napolitana sauce and stir gently while adding more milk or water to keep the consistency velvety. We are going to make this dish, so leave it a little thin, but not runny with excess liquid, which seperates itself from the sauce.

Then add the spinach to the sauce and mix in and turn the stove plate off and remove the meatballs from the oven.

Lighly coat the thinly sliced butternut with olive oil and sprinkle with your favourite spice. I used Cayenne Pepper on one side and BBQ sauce on the other. Leaving a few pieces unspiced for baby. Place in the hot oven, under the grill. Keep your eye on them, as they cook quickly. You want them to come out a bit crispy.

Gently mix your ingrediants together. I would have liked more sauce, but did not have enough milk on hand - as this was a spur of the moment meal. If you want to treat yourself, you can add some fresh cream to the sauce, before mixing in the rest of the ingrediants.

Top with some grated cheese. I am on a low fat diet, so it was just a sprinkle. If I was entertaining, I would have mixed some feta into the sauce and topped with mozarella and gouda - with very finely grated parmesan on top.

Notice how much fat dripped off the meatballs, which were cooked evevated off the pan on a wire grill. Take note of the dark patches which is where the meatballs dripped. This is carciogenic and very bad for your heath. A teaspoon of fat saved per meal, adds up to a whole lot over a lifetime; its these small efforts which keep us healthy and help prevent heart disease and cancer. (sorry for the change of subject, but double click this image to have a closer look)

A cross section shows how nicely it has cooked. Perfectly textured sauce, no liquid off-run, firm meatballs and soft pasta.

Carefully dish your pasta as not to break the meatballs. Double click this image to see properly. Notice the chopped coriander for garnishing and an extra flavour. You can use parsley or whatever you prefer.

Just in case you thought that the butternaut chip was the work of a madman. Its almost like eating a pasta with a breadroll, just healthier.

I guarantee that you wont have any complaints. This is an unpretentious, cheap, easy to prepare and tasty meal; which could compare to most of the pastas that I have eaten in most of the restaurants around. This is a quick and easy and healthy version, snazz it up if you are entertaining.

















Please leave your comments or questions and I will answer them.
Will be making this soon, sounds delish! meant to ask, did the birthday card reach madiba?
Hi. Yea, I printed all the comments and put into a collage in a BIG card form the Crazy Shop. Unfortunately my battery for my camera was flat and it shut down after a second. It had to be posted at the post office as it was too big to put into a post box. It was beautiful !!
I am hoping that we will get a reply in a few weeks, Madiba has a very jacked up PR unit.