Meatball Mondays
Somewhere in America today a child is reading a book and praying that tomorrow night the sky opens up and starts raining spaghetti and meatballs. The classic children’s story of a town whose residents eat food delivered according to the whims of the weather has no doubt left several generations of young readers going to bed with hopes of a morning “rain shower” of pancakes and maple syrup. And for busy parents in this back-to-school season, the idea of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, that dinner will be magically delivered to a hungry family like rain to a dry yard, must sound like heaven compared with needing to actually cook.
In spite of their beloved storybook status, meatballs are one of those terrifying foods that many home cooks seem unwilling to go near, leaving it up to professionals when going out to eat dinner at the local Italian joint. Not pretty, meatballs lack the silken elegance of a long simmered ragu. Not glamorous, meatballs rarely make the cut at fine Italian restaurants, left to the Mom-and-Pop spots to serve up softball sized rounds of seasoned ground beef in overly sweet tomato sauces atop mountains of soggy spaghetti.
However, meatballs need not be feared. In fact, they should be embraced as a fun and yes, easy, weeknight dinner that is sure to please the whole family. Making meatballs from scratch might take slightly more work that if they just appeared on your doorstep, but not much more. And with countless ways to spice them up and fun suggestions for serving, meatballs could very well become a new weeknight routine.
In its basic form, meatballs are exactly what they sound like: balls of ground meat. Unlike hamburgers that tend to use no binding agents, meatballs typically use egg, breadcrumbs, or even rice to bind the ingredients, keep in moisture, and give the meat a lighter, airier texture.
Dry spices from the pantry like oregano, basil, and thyme are essential for classic Italian style. Pork meatballs might use ginger and garlic for an Asian twist. Poultry meatballs make a light variation on a classically heavy dish, but they will need more egg and breadcrumbs to hold together. Ground turkey and chicken save on the calories while complimenting any number of spices from the cupboard, from curries to taco seasoning.
Sauce for meatballs can run the gamut from excessively simple (doctored up spaghetti sauce from a jar) to elegantly easy (diced tomatoes and tomato sauce with fresh herbs and pantry spices). Meatballs can take a sweet and silly turn when simmered with grape jelly and onions like my friend Alexa does for her Swedish meatballs. Or they can be wholesome and healthy when ground turkey seasoned with ginger gets simmered in barely thickened sauce of mushrooms and broth.
Once seasoned, formed, sauced, and cooked, all that’s left is figuring out how to serve up these mini balls of meat. Part of what makes meatballs a great weeknight meal is their versatility when it comes to serving. Alexa’s Swedish meatballs just get a serving bowl and some toothpicks. Turkey meatballs with mushrooms work as well over rice as they do over egg noodles. Heartier beef or lamb meatballs would do as well with polenta or couscous as they would atop pasta. And for a weekday leftover lunch, there is nothing wrong with the classic meatball sub on a loaf of crusty bread.
From meat to sauce to serving, versatile meatballs are a fun food to experiment with, taking weeknight dinner from chore to creative cooking. They might never fall from the sky but if you can perfect an easy weeknight recipe for meatballs that the family loves, dinner might start feeling as easy as if it had, well, rained down.
Made with dried thyme, ground ginger, salt, pepper, olive oil, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, dried oregano, dried basil
Serves/Makes: 4
- 1 1/2 pound ground dark meat turkey
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 can (14 ounce size) no-salt-added diced tomatoes
- 1 can (8 ounce size) tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
- additional salt and pepper
- 1 pound thick spaghetti or bucatini pasta
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a medium bowl mix ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, garlic, 1 tablespoon basil, ginger, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Mix by hand just until ingredients are all incorporated.
Heat olive oil in a large sauce pot over medium high heat. Start forming meatballs about the size of a golf ball from the ground turkey combination. Drop each meatball into the hot pan as it is formed. Repeat with all meat. There should be about 12 meatballs. Brown meat for about 3 minutes turning periodically to brown on all sides.
Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, 1 tsp basil, oregano, thyme, chili flakes, some salt and pepper plus the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Stir gently to combine ingredients. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat to medium. Cover with a lid and let simmer for 10 minutes.
While meatballs are cooking, add salt to the pot of boiling water and cook pasta according to package directions. Take lid off the meatballs for the last few minutes of cooking to reduce liquid to desired thickness. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if desired. Drain pasta and toss with sauce and meatball. Divide among individual plates and serve.
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