Sometimes I like to jazz up spaghetti night by using homemade meatballs instead of just browning up ground beef or ground sausage. I decided to even jazz up the meatball a little. It’s nice to break up the monotony of the same ol’ spaghetti dinner. This is a great recipe to serve up with the Fresh Wheat Pasta!
Here’s what I used:
1 lb ground beef (you can always substitute ground turkey if you like)
1 egg, beaten
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp basil pesto (I just used the jarred, because that’s what I had.)
2 tbsp grated asiago cheese
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup roasted garlic breadcrumbs (I used Kroger brand)
16- ½ inch cubes of mozzarella cheese (I just buy a small block of mozzarella cheese and cut them into small cubes myself.)
2 to 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, salt, ground black pepper, pesto, grated asiago cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, and breadcrumbs.Mix until combined.Using a cookie scoop, scoop out meat and roughly shape into ball forms. I use a cookie scoop, so they are relatively all the same shape and size. Set onto a cutting board or baking sheet.Next cut the mozzarella into small ½ inch cubes.Create a small hole in each meatball, and stuff a cube of mozzarella inside. Form into a ball to make sure the cheese is covered. Repeat for all meatballs.Heat about 2-4 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high in a skillet.Add the meatballs to the skillet to brown.When meatballs are ready to turn, they should be easy to turn. They may not be ready all at once. You’ll want a nice caramelization color on them.Once browned, pour in ½ of the Red Sauce (see recipe below)Cover with a lid, and drop the heat down to low-medium to simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes.Serve over Fresh Wheat Pasta, or your favorite pasta. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese. Serve with Garlic Bread on the side.
Red Sauce
While jarred spaghetti or marinara sauce is okay to use, since we’re jazzing things up, we might as well jazz up the sauce as well!
This is what I used for the sauce:
28 oz can of peeled, crushed tomatoes
24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu Garden Combination, but you can use your favorite marinara)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried oregano
½ dried dill
½ tsp salt
½ tsp white ground pepper
In a 3qt saucepan, combine the crushed tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. Stir to combine.Add the remaining ingredients.Stir to combine. Heat on medium heat. When sauce starts to boil, lower temperature to a simmer, and cook for about 10-15 minutes.You’ll use ½ of the sauce for the meatballs as shown above. The other ½, allow to cool and spoon into a freezer safe container and freeze to use later. You can thaw in the refrigerator before using.
Melissa is a self-taught, home cook with Midwest and Southern style influences. Melissa grew up in the Midwest , and currently lives in South Carolina with her husband, Jon and four dogs. She's been cooking and creating recipes almost her whole life. Melissa enjoys taking photographs of food and dishes she creates.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
