Preparation Time : 30 minutes
Cooking Time : 40 minutes
Serving : 5 members
Description
Italian beat balls with spaghetti . Having a packet of spaghetti in my pantry for quite some time . Every time I think of cooking it , I am like let the kids come . Finally one day I made the spaghetti with an Italian meat ball tomato sauce that is an international comfort classic .started of with a slight nervousness not knowing if my beat balls would turn out soft . I religiously followed the recipe for the meat balls but just substituted beef to chicken . Finally the dish resulted in a wonderfully moist , soft and juicy tomato drunk meat balls . The meat balls turned into a ball of fame as Every one enjoyed it on the dining table and I made sure to pack the left over for my boy in Coimbatore . He had it for lunch , dinner and breakfast . Well , nothing perks us all up like home cooked mummy’s food :-))
Ingredients for meatballs
Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Boneless chicken | 1/4 kg ground to a paste without water |
| fresh bread crumbs | 2 1/2 tablespoons ( blitz 2 slices of bread in a food processor ) |
| Fresh parsley/ coriander leaves chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| grated Parmesan cheese | 1 tablespoon |
| Chilli flakes | to taste |
| ground black pepper | 1/4 teaspoon |
| Salt | to taste |
| garlic powder/ paste | 1/4 teaspoon |
| egg beaten | 1 |
Ingredients for Sauce
Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| chopped onion | 3/4 cup |
| garlic minced | 5 flakes |
| olive oil | 4 tablespoons |
| whole peeled tomatoes | 3/4 kg , ( blanch whole tomatoes in hot water and peel the skins ) , ( I blitzed the peeled tomatoes to a corse pulp ) |
| salt | to taste |
| sugar | 1 teaspoon |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| tomato paste / tomato sauce | 1 tablespoon |
| dried basil | 3/4 teaspoon |
| ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| Red chilli powder | 1 teaspoon ( for the Indian pallet ) |
Method
- In a large bowl, combine ground chicken , bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder / paste and beaten egg. Mix well and form into equal sized balls.
- Store, covered, in refrigerator until needed.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent.
- Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer .
- Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper . taste and adjust .
- add meatballs and simmer for 30 minutes or more until the meat balls are cooked through , soft and moist . Set aside
How to proceed
- Boil spaghetti as per packet directions in boiling salted water .
- Drain and rinse in cold water .
- Add to the meat ball sauce and mix well , making sure that the sauce coats the spaghetti well .
- Serve hot .
