Spaghetti and Meatballs

We're cooking up a storm in OKC! While tornadoes and hail storms circled Oklahoma City, my mom and I made tomato sauce and meatballs from scratch! We paired it with a great light herb salad and garlic bread.

Homemade Tomato Sauce and Spaghetti

My family has made this sauce several different times, each time tweaking it a bit to make it better. I love a nice kick to any dish, however my mother does not, so we half the spiciness so I don't miss it, and she doesn't start sweating in the middle of dinner.

My big tip for this recipe is to invest in the can tomatoes we used. They are only found at William-Sonoma, but they are filled with flavor and regular canned tomatoes just do not compare to these. The brand is Solonia, San Marzano Tomato and they are well worth the trip!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely diced
• 4-6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 2 Tbl fresh thyme (or 1/2 Tbl dried)
• 2 Tbl fresh oregano (or 1/2 Tbl dried)
• 1 Tbl red pepper flakes (don't use this if you don't like spicy food, or half the amount for medium heat)
• 1 medium carrot, finely grated
• 2 bay leaves 
• 2 (28-oz) cans peeled whole San Marzano tomatoes
• Salt and pepper
• Spaghetti, cooked al dente
• Whole basil leaves for garnish
• Grated fresh Parmesan

Directions:

Have two bowls ready. In the first bowl, strain the tomato juice. Crush the remaining tomatoes by hand and strain the juice into the first bowl. Put the pulp into the second bowl. Set both aside.

 

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. add garlic and cook 3-5 more minutes, until soft and light golden brown.

Add the thyme, oregano, carrot, and red pepper (I put about 2 teaspoons into my sauce), and cooked 5 minutes more, until the carrot is soft.

Add the tomato juice and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the remaining pulp and cook another 30 minutes, until the consistency is like oatmeal.

Use an immersion blender to adjust the consistency to your preference. If you like a chunky sauce, skip this step like I did!

Season with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves over pasta. You'll have so much of this sauce left over, so make sure to store it in your fridge for up to a week, or freeze it for up to 6 months.

Top the spaghetti with the sauce and meatballs (recipe below) and serve with garlic bread and a side salad. Enjoy!

Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 lb. pork sausage
• 3/4 lb. ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 large shallot, minced
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Fresh oregano leaves, chopped, plus whole
    sprigs for garnish
•   1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Olive oil, as needed 

Directions:

To make the meatballs, in a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs and milk and mix well. Add the sausage, beef, egg, ricotta, one-third of the Parmesan cheese, the shallot, nutmeg, cloves, a good sprinkling of marjoram and garlic clove. Mix briefly with your hands just until the ingredients are well distributed. Season well with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into small balls 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter.

In a large fry pan over medium heat, pour in the olive oil to a depth of 1/4 inch. When it is hot, add the meatballs (in batches, if necessary) and brown well on all sides. Transfer to a paper towel-lined tray to drain.

Herb Salad

Since our dinner had so much flavor, we went simple on the salad. I bought a package of fresh spring lettuce mix and mixed it with some herbs from our herb garden.I think its very important to always have an herb garden in your home. It's so easy to maintain, and doesn't take up a lot of space. Currently, we have basil, thyme, flat-leaved parsley, rosemary, lemon thyme, mint, sage, and oregano. It's really fun to use, and fresh herbs at the store are usually very expensive.

To make the dressing, I used an old glass jam jar. It's a good way to reuse a jar, it easy to mix all the ingredients together, and it keeps the dressing fresh and easy to store.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbl apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbl honey
• 2 Tbl lemon juice
• 1 Tbl coarse-grained dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 walnut oil (or hazelnut oil)
• 1/2 cup evoo

Directions:

Mix all together and blend with the herb salad!

 

Broiled Parmesan Tilapia and Green&Red Salad

I'm an official graduate of Baylor University! I just moved out of my house in Waco, and into my parent's house in Oklahoma for the summer.

My family made dinner tonight, it was really beautiful outside, so we ate outside. One of the best parts of being home is having a full stocked kitchen, very different from my home in Waco.

 Broiled Spicy Parmesan Tilapia

One of the best parts about this dish is you can add whatever spice you want. I like it a little spicy so i added red paper flakes. I used a lot a spices I had on hand.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 Tbl low fat mayonnaise
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp salt (or celery salt if you have any on hand)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Old Bay Seasoning, enough to cover fillets
• 2 pounds tilapia fillets

Directions:

Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, and light mayonnaise. Add all the seasonings (except the old bay). Mix well and set aside.

Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Lightly cover both sides of the fillets with the Old Bay Seasoning. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. 

Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 1-2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork, make sure you watch them carefully, they brown quickly. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

G

Green and Red Salad

We made this yesterday with chicken and had it as our main dish. Tonight we added extra tomatoes to the left overs and had it for our side to the tilapia. I think this dish, if used as the main dish would be great with chicken (which is what we used) and salmon or shrimp.  

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup pesto
• 2 Tbl white wine vinegar
• 1/4 tap plus 2 Tbl salt
• Pinch of freshly gound pepper
• 3 Tbl olive oil
• 3/4 lb orzo pasta
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1/2 lb cherry tomatoes, halved 
• 6 oz baby spinach

Directions:

Make the vinaigrette: In a large bowl, whisk together the pesto, vinegar, the 1/4 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil until smooth.

Cook the Orzo: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the 2 tablespoons salt and the orzo. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until the pasta is al dente, according to the package instructions. Drain, rinse under cold running water and drain again. Add the orzo to the vinaigrette and toss to coat evenly.

Assemble: Add the chicken, tomatoes and spinach to the orzo and toss gently to combine, then serve!