#yogirlcancook | Spaghetti & Meatballs

During the holidays, our family and friends went through this phase of having spaghetti and meatballs as one of our potluck items during our holiday/birthday parties. Thats basically having spaghetti and meatballs about 5/6 times in a matter of 2 1/2 weeks. I was meatballed out. I didn’t even want to look at that shit for the longest time.

Looking through our pantry as I plan our meals for the week, I saw I had all the ingredients for it and thought, fuck it, why not? So here I am, sharing with you this glorious recipe which is inspired by The Pioneer Woman with little tweaks I’ve made here and there. (I aspire to be the young filipino version of her in the near future. She is #queen).

Ingredients:

MEATBALLS:

• 1..or so pounds of ground beef (you can use any type of ground meat of your preference. I’ve used half beef and half pork before. My best friend used the same recipe and used ground turkey. All up to you boo boo’s)
• 4-5 slices of bacon finely chopped (you can omit this part, but I did not want the bacon to go to waste.Also, bacon makes everything better, AMIRITE?)
• 2 whole eggs
• 3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 cup of dried breadcrumbs (italian style or garlic & herbs)
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 fresh parsley
• splash of milk (and when i say splash, probably like..a shot. This is what makes that meatball moist and tendahhhh)
• salt and pepper to taste

SAUCE:

• 1 small yellow onions diced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/8 cup parsley
• 1 can of diced tomatoes ( I used one with italian seasonings)
• 1 can of tomato sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• a pinch of sugar to kill the acidity of all that tomatoes

Oh. and a pack of spaghetti noodles. duh.

Directions:

So. Add all your meatball ingredients to a large bowl.

Get down and dirtay!  Get your hands in there and mix, there is really no other way to do it. Not an ideal meal to make if you have acrylics on or have long nails. LOL. This is also a good way for the kiddos to help in the kitchen. Sorry i couldn’t picture Alyssa and Aeson helping out, we had meaty hands…*Ba dump bump

Roll your meatballs! This recipe will make about 22-24 meatballs depending on how small or large you make them. but really, who likes small balls…meatballs. *ba dumb bump

After you have finished rolling, i like to stick them in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour to firm them up. If you dont have that kind of time, you can stick them in the freezer for 15 minutes. (thats what The Pioneer Woman does)

In a large pot or skillet (something big enough to hold the meatballs and the sauce), you are going to take about a tablespoon of olive oil and brown the outside of your meatballs. Remember you’re just browning them, not cooking them all the way through. The meatballs will cook all the way through once we add them to the sauce.

Once you’ve browned all your meatballs, in the same pan (yes! same pan, you know your ass ain’t trying to wash two big ol’ pots. and plus, the drippings are liquid gold.) you are going to sautee your garlic and onions just until they are translucent.

Go ahead and add your sauce, salt, pepper, pinch of sugar and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.

At this point, you are going to add your meatballs, cover it, and let it simmer and cook on low to medium heat for about 20-30 minutes. In my opinion the longer the better because all those flavors dance together and it will be a party in your mouth. Once the sauce is cooked, go ahead and add the parsley at the very end and turn off your stove.

Boil the pasta of your choice. I dont need to tell you how to boil pasta right? LOL

(fun tip though, once my pasta is cooked and drained, i like to coat it in about 2 tbsp of butter and parmesan cheese before i plate it. No one said this dish was particularly healthy lol)

Plate that bad boy up bruh!

Tada! If you do have leftovers, I like to serve the meatballs on a baguette the next day or over a bed of rice with a fried egg (because everything taste better with a fried egg on top.)

I hope you guys enjoyed! If you guys decide to try this recipe, let me know and please take pictures! Food pictures are way better than porn, who agrees? LOL. Until then love bugs, Shanti Shanti!

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All pictures are my own and taken with Nikon Coolpix P7800