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Sunday 2 November 2014

Pasta and Meatballs

The movie Cloudy with a chance of meatballs had inspired me to come up with the name "Raining food", so its time I make some meatballs.

If you have gone through this post on Scotch eggs you are half way through. Actually I had planned for scotch eggs alone but while I was preparing them it occurred to me that the meat mix would be just idle for meatballs and that is how I made them too.

I have always pictured the taste and texture of meatballs in a certain way in my mind and this recipe is totally coming from my imagination. I did not have Spaghetti so settled with Fusilli instead. Often wonder why Spaghetti and meatballs is such a famous combination, when it should work well with other types of pasta too. Anyway.. lets start with the recipe


Meatballs and pasta

Ingredients 

250 gms Fusilli (Serves two)

For meatballs (Makes 20 of 1.5 inch diameter)

2 eggs beaten
2 onions finely chopped
200 gms minced meat of your choice
1 cup of refined wheat flour
Lot of good quality white breadcrumbs (I used 6 slices of bread for this)
Dried herbs of your choice (I used oregano, thyme, sea salt)
1/2 tsp mustard sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (You may increase the amount of cheese)
1 tsp black pepper
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste

For marinara sauce (You can totally skip this by ready made marinara or pasta sauce with tomato base)

2 large onions finely chopped
2 tomatoes pureed
6 garlic cloves finely chopped or crushed
2 cups chicken stock (Use Maggi chicken cubes)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (Optional)
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp butter


To prepare the meat, 
add 1/4th of the breadcrumbs, onions,herbs, cheese, pepper, mustard sauce, garlic powder and salt to it. Mix well.




Keep breadcrumbs, beaten eggs and flour ready.

Apply some oil on your hands and make meatballs 1 inch in diameter.

Now roll it in the flour and then dip it in the beaten eggs and finally roll it in breadcrumbs. Again dip in egg and roll in breadcrumbs. This will ensure a thick crispy layer on top in case you want to have them just like that with ketchup.

Heat oil for deep frying and set the burner on medium heat when oil is hot.

Gently dip each meatball in oil and fry till it turns golden brown. The heat should be low enough to be able to cook the meat for about 4 mins each.

If you want to avoid deep frying which you totally can, you can bake them in the oven and lightly roast them on a pan later (again, roasting is optional). Preheat microwave at 200 degrees and then bake for 20 minutes o
r the latest trend is that of Paniyaram or appe pan easily available online and offline too. Healthier and more convenient way of cooking, you may invest in one as it is definitely worth it. 

Okay now that your meatballs are ready, lets make some sauce for pasta.


Meatballs and pasta on rainingfood.com

Because we are adding lot of cheese to the meatballs, I prefer going for tomato based sauce and not a white sauce which is also cheesy. 

We are going to make some marinara sauce for pasta.

Heat butter in a frying pan, add onions and cook till they turn transparent. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add tomato puree and simmer the flame, cover the lid and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add stock, ketchup, Worcestershire saucesalt to taste and mix well. Check salt and add if required. If you find the sauce too tangy, you may add some fresh cream or milk as per need. Bring to boil

Add meatballs, cover and cook for 5 minutes. The sauce is ready. At this point, you may add some dried herbs of your choice.

Cook fussili,as per instructions on the pack.

One last step, Serve hot!







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