Spaghetti Meatballs Kid Style Food

BAKED SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 9x13 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
• Cook pasta as directed and drain (do not rinse).
• Add the noodles to a large bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Add in the pasta sauce, meatballs and half the mozzarella cheese.
• Pour into your baking dish and spread evenly.
• Bake for 30 minutes, covered.
• Uncover, top with remaining mozzarella cheese and cook for 10 more minutes until cheese is melted.

REAL MEATBALLS AND SPAGHETTI

Steps:

• Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.
• Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.
• For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.
• Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place a large pot of water on to boil for spaghetti. When it boils, add salt and pasta and cook to al dente.
• Mix beef and Worcestershire, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Roll meat into 1 1/2 inch medium-sized meatballs and place on nonstick cookie sheet or a cookie sheet greased with extra-virgin olive oil. Bake balls 10 to 12 minutes, until no longer pink.
• Heat a deep skillet or medium pot over moderate heat. Add oil, crushed pepper, garlic and finely chopped onion. Saute 5 to 7 minutes, until onion bits are soft. Add beef stock, crushed tomatoes, and herbs. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.
• Toss hot, drained pasta with a few ladles of the sauce and grated cheese. Turn meatballs in remaining sauce. Place pasta on dinner plates and top with meatballs and sauce and extra grated cheese. Serve with bread or garlic bread (and some good chianti!)

SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Place the Basic Red Sauce in a large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Place all the remaining meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir well with a wooden spoon to combine, then form the meat into balls by rolling about 2 tablespoons of meat between your hands. Place meatballs on a plate as they are formed. (Hint: if your hands are slightly damp, the meatballs will roll more easily and will not stick to your hands!) When all the meatballs are formed, gently place the balls into the sauce 1 at a time using a long handled spoon. Be careful - bubbling sauce splatters! Simmer the sauce uncovered, and allow the meatballs to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes before stirring. Stir the meatballs into the sauce when they rise to the top.
• Simmer for an additional 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• While sauce is simmering, cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente. Strain and toss with the olive oil. Keep warm until ready to serve.
• Heat the olive oil in a 5-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, salt, crushed red pepper, oregano and black pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and squeeze to break into small pieces. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and sugar to the pot with the onions, and stir well. Add the Parmesan rind. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally with a long-handled wooden spoon, until flavors have come together and sauce is thickened. Stir in the basil and let sit for 10 minutes before using.
• Remove from the heat, and use as needed. You can store this sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS

Steps:

• First, make the meatballs. Split the skins of the sausages and squeeze out the meat into a large mixing bowl.
• Add the mince, onion, parsley, parmesan, breadcrumbs, eggs and lots of seasoning. Get your hands in and mix together really well - the more you squeeze and mash the mince, the more tender the meatballs will be.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Roll the mince mixture into about 50 golf-ball-sized meatballs. Set aside any meatballs for freezing, allowing about five per portion, then spread the rest out in a large roasting tin - the meatballs will brown better if spaced out a bit.
• Drizzle with a little oil (about 1 tsp per portion), shake to coat, then roast for 20-30 mins until browned.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic cloves and sizzle for 1 min.
• Stir in the chopped tomatoes, red wine, if using, caster sugar, parsley and seasoning. Simmer for 15-20 mins until slightly thickened.
• Stir in a few basil leaves, if using, spoon out any portions for freezing, then add the cooked meatballs to the pan to keep warm while you cook the spaghetti in a pan of boiling, salted water.
• Spoon the sauce and meatballs over spaghetti, or stir them all together and serve with extra parmesan and a few basil leaves, if you like.

SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Meatballs.
• Gently cook onion in a small pan over low heat until softened, turn off heat and add garlic, stir to combine. Allow to cool while you mix other ingredients.
• Combine mince, herbs, pepper and salt, tomato paste and egg, mixing well with hands to thorough distribution. Add onions and garlic which will have cooled slightly to allow handling.
• You will have a fairly wet mix. Add breadcrumbs and combine, you may need to use a little more or a little less to get the right texture so add bit by bit. You should bring it back to about the same 'wetness' as the mince originally was.
• Heat oil in large frying pan on medium heat.
• Roll into balls about the size of a ping pong ball. Rolling each ball in flour and shaking off excess. Place in pan, turn after about 90-120 seconds.
• I usually roll about 12 balls at a time, then dust them in flour, add them to the pan and roll the next lot. By then it is time to turn the first lot and then dust the second in flour, remove the first lot from the pan, add the second lot - you can get a bit of a system happening.
• Remove the meatballs from the pan and drain on kitchen paper before placing them into a casserole dish - it will need a lid, or cover with foil.
• Pour over tomato soup and bake in the oven for around 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Cook spaghetti according to directions on packet. Bucatini, or tubular spaghetti is the 'traditional' style.
• Serve spaghetti topped with meatballs, sauce and with mashed potatoes on the side. Top with Tasty cheese.

SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Mix together ground beef, Italian sausage, 1 tsp minced garlic, a sprinkle of fennel seed, small onion, dash of garlic salt, dash of pepper, dash of salt, 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, bread crumbs, eggs.
• Roll into balls and bake at 350 degrees until done (about 20 minutes).
• Sauté in 4 1/2 QT or bigger pan, medium onion, 1/2 TBL chopped garlic, chopped fennel in olive oil until onion is tender. Add 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, red wine, 1 tsp fennel seed, dash of garlic powder, dash of salt & pepper and 1 TBL sugar.
• Add the meatballs when they're done baking.
• Let simmer for an hour or more. Pan will be very full. I usually use a little less tomato sauce, so it's not so full.
• Serve over spaghetti noodles.

COOKING WITH KIDS: SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS WITH HIDDEN VEG SAUCE

Steps:

• Children: Squeeze all the sausage meat out of the sausage skins into a large bowl and add the mince. Tip all the rest of the meatball ingredients, except the olive oil, into the bowl and season with black pepper then squish everything together through your hands until completely mixed. Keep an eye on younger children to make sure they don't taste any of the raw mix.
• Children: Roll the meatball mix into walnut-sized balls and place them on a plate - this is a job children as young as 2 can help with and a great job to help teach older children basic division.
• Grown ups: While the children are rolling the meatballs make the sauce. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the courgette and garlic and cook for 5 mins until soft and mushy. Stir in the tomato puree, sugar and vinegar leave for 1 min then tip in the tomatoes and simmer for 5 mins. If your children like courgettes then you can leave the sauce chunky. But if, like mine, they hate courgettes then blitz the sauce with a hand blender - either way continue to simmer sauce gently while you cook the meatballs. If your child is confident with heat, from 7+ they can cook the sauce with supervision.
• Grown ups: Heat the oil in a large frying pan and, working in batches, brown the meatballs on all sides then pop them into the sauce - continue to simmer the sauce for 15 mins, stirring very gently until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with cooked spaghetti, extra grated Parmesan and a few torn basil leaves your child has picked and torn.