Who doesn’t love pasta and meatballs?! This recipe will show you how to spice up a store bought pasta sauce, and easily put together a delicious nutritious meal!
To make the meatballs combine beef, onions, parsley, garlic, thyme, rosemary, basil, eggs, almond flour, salt, and pepper. I like to let it sit in the fridge for a while so the flavors can meld, but it’s not necessary. I then used a 1″ cookie scoop to get even sized meatballs, and gently rolled them in my hands.
Now to spice up the store bought sauce. I bought a really basic Classico tomato basil sauce. Which of course is perfectly fine on it’s own, but I like to jazz it up a bit. I cut up 1/4 onion, 2 garlic cloves, and 3 stalks of celery. I sautéed them in a little olive oil for a couple of minutes, then added the sauce. I then added a 1/2 cup of broth to the sauce jar, shook it up to get the excess out and dumped that into the pot. Bring it to a boil and then lower temperature and let simmer.
Next to cook the meatballs. Heat olive oil in a large pan, I used a large cast iron pan, and sear the meatballs. Let sit for a couple minutes and turn when there is a nice brown crust. Sear on the other side and then place them in the simmering sauce to finish cooking. This will infuse the flavors of the sauce and meatballs, and keep the meatballs from drying out. Let simmer for 25-30 minutes. In the last 10-15 minutes bring water to a boil and cook your pasta according to package instructions.
Gonna share this picture again to feature the pasta I used. I love this veggie pasta by Cybeles. It’s ingredients are green lentil, kale, broccoli & spinach. You get a serving of protein and a full serving of veggies! Who doesn’t love that! I like the green variety, but they have other flavors. There are also other brands of pasta like this if your store doesn’t carry this specific brand. This is a great way to cut back on carbs, and still have a pasta meal. I will say it doesn’t make great leftovers, so I prefer to cook what we need for the night and cook more for leftovers.
Time to dish it up! I put pasta on the bottom, sauce and meatballs on top. Asher and Kyle had parmesan on theirs. Enjoy!
Asher approved!
Weeknight Pasta and Meatballs
Meatball Ingredients:
- 1.5 lb ground beef
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp rosemary
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 2 TBSP fresh parsley/ 1 TBSP dried parsley
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2-3 TBSP olive oil for frying
Sauce and Pasta Ingredients:
- Store bought pasta sauce of choice
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 celery stocks, diced
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- Veggie pasta/ or pasta of choice
- Parmesan (optional)
- Combine all meatball ingredients except olive oil. Cover and let sit in the fridge for 30-60 minutes if you want. Use a 1″ cookie scoop if you have one, to create equal sized meatballs. Gently roll each meatball in your hands to creat a nice tight ball.
- Next heat 2 TBSP olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions, garlic, and celery. Sautée for a few minutes until onions have softened. Pour in the sauce and the stock. Bring sauce to a boil and then lower to a simmer.
- Next heat 2-3 TBSP olive oil in a large pan. Add meatballs being careful not to crowd the pan, work in batches if you need to. Sear the meatballs for several minutes until a nice brown crust has formed then flip them. Once they have seared on each side, place the meatballs into the simmering sauce. Allow to simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Lastly, cook pasta according to package instructions. Assemble your bowl with pasta, sauce, meatballs, and garnish with parmesan if you wish, then enjoy!!
Recipe adapted from https://www.thatskinnychickcanbake.com/easy-italian-meatball-subs/
I hope you enjoy this delicious pasta and meatball recipe! I’d love to hear from you if you try it out. Please like, share and enjoy!
Turtlelion 
One thought on “Weeknight Pasta and Meatballs”
Comments are closed.