Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Not every night can be night of dinner from scratch, but every night needs to be a night of eating meat.  I have mentioned before that I am down to cuts that are a little harder to deal with... except for the ground beef.  A quick check of my cupboards confirmed that I had a jar of marinara and pasta, so spaghetti (well, angel hair) and meat sauce it was.

There is no recipe for this meal.  Okay, for those of you who REALLY don't know how to cook:

Brown the meat in a skillet, pour in the marinara, and stir.  Meanwhile, boil some water and cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.  Drain the pasta, put some on a plate, and put some sauce on top.  Sprinkle on grated parmesan cheese, and you're good to go.

Well, add a glass or two of red wine to accompany your meal, and you are ready to go.  For those of you that can get it, I highly recommend Andrew Rich wines.  Anything he makes is great, but his Pinot Noir is the best value of any Oregon Pinot I have seen.  And it's not only that they are a great value, they are really excellent wine.  Trust me on this.  I am a girl who has drank quite a bit of Oregon Pinot Noir.

Bon appetit.

I'm BACK! Spaghetti and Meatballs

Yes, I know, I have taken a long hiatus from posting.  And it is not only that I have taken a break from blogging; I have taken a break from cooking.  Quick meals like PB&J or take out have become a nightly thing for me.  I intend to change that.


A couple nights ago I was chatting on the phone with my little sister, and I was telling her that I just don't have the energy to cook for myself.  She agreed that it is hard to do so with long work hours and only yourself to feed.  We hung up, and I immediately went to my freezer, grabbed a package of ground beef and a package of ground pork and put them in some warm water (my quick defrost method of choice).  This was at about 7.30 or 8pm.  By 10 or so, I was devouring some of the best tasting spaghetti and meatballs I have had in a while.


So, yes, 10pm is a bit late to eat.  But it was so worth it.  And instead of staring bleary eyed at the TV, I was doing something I truly love.  I was cooking.  Not only that, but I made enough to last me a couple days, so last night and tonight I have enjoyed 2 more delicious home cooked meals, saving my self from more nights of take out.


The recipe comes from a couple different places.  When I decided to make spaghetti and meatballs, I first did what I usually do.  I turned to Martha.  So, I started with her basic spaghetti and meatballs recipe.  But, soon after, I was on the phone with my mom telling her I was going to make meatballs, and she told me that she had a recipe for Sriracha spaghetti and meatballs (from the Oregonian), that she was going to put in the mail for me.  She read it to me over the phone.  I took those two recipes and made the below.


- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese + 
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp oregano
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- Jar of marinara sauce (I know... I am just being honest here.  I used Trader Joe's marinara)
- 1/4 cup Sriracha


1.  Put beef and pork in a large bowl.


2.  In a smallish bowl, lightly beat the egg and water.  Add the parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, 1/2 the garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper. Mix.  Add to the beef and pork.


3.  Mix everything together.


4.  Form into meatballs in the size of your liking.  Normally recipes tell you to make them about 1.5 inches in diameter, but I like my meatballs bigger.  So, do it how you want to do it, but know that the bigger meatballs take longer to cook.


5.  Heat some olive oil in a cast iron (or other) skillet.  Brown the meatballs on all sides.


6.  Take the meatballs out of the skillet.  Drain the skillet if there is a lot of fat in it (I didn't drain it.  There wasn't that much fat.)  Add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.  Add the marinara and the Sriracha.  Stir.  


7.  Put the meatballs in the sauce, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or so.  


8.  In the meantime, boil some water and cook the spaghetti to al dente.  Follow the directions on the package.


9.  Put some spaghetti on a plate, put some sauce on top, put a couple meatballs on that, sprinkle on some cheese, and enjoy!

I feel like none of the pics adequately show the size of the meatballs I made.  They're about 3.5 inches in diameter. 


Two notes:


1.  I inadvertently arranged the uncooked meatballs like I was going to play Beirut.  Muscle memory is incredible.


2.  I should give credit for this post happening to Santina and her incredible fashion blog.  She's soon going to post a link to Princeton Eats Portland, and it would be really sad if the latest post was from January.


Bon appetit!

Mexico Month - Mexitalian?

Okay, I am a little embarrassed to post the meal I made for dinner tonight.  But, it's been a tough week for cooking, and if I don't post this meal, there may not be any new posts this week at all.  First, I will give my excuses for my lack of/laziness with cooking this week: work and the Blazers.  


That said, tonight I boiled some angel hair pasta, tossed it with warmed tinga poblana, and crumbled some cotija on top.  


A little weird and very non-gourmet, right?  


Why would I do such a thing?  


I will tell you why.  I still have a lot left of that huge pot of tinga poblana I made, and I really do not want it to go to waste.  I have already eaten it plain as a stew for at least 4 meals, as tacos once, as a breakfast thing once, and as filling for tamales which I ate over two days.  I was planning to make enchiladas with it next, but I just haven't found the time.  


When I got home from work today - late, may I add - I just couldn't bear the bore of warming up a bowl of the tinga poblana and eating it plain again, and a quick check of my fridge and cupboards revealed very little in the way of other options.  Until I saw pasta.  Why not treat the pork stew like a spaghetti sauce?  And you know what, it was delicious.


And, as an added bonus, the name of my meal reminds me of my Italian best friend who is currently residing in Mexico... and looking a little like a local.  Yes, I think she's a Mexitalian.


Bon appetit.