Herb Pasta and Meatballs (one pot!)

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Incredible flavor made in just 1 pot - pasta included! Meatballs are browned and then nestled in a creamy herb based sauce and cooked alongside egg noodles. This recipe is quick, easy, and perfect for busy weeknights!

Spring usually means longer days spent outside - whether it's yardwork, ball practice, or just enjoying the sun. I always find that I hibernate in the winter evenings but am anxious to get out of the house when it's so beautiful outside! Charlotte in the spring is especially lovely so I've been reaching for quick and easy weeknight meals. Who wants to stay inside and cook or do dishes? This recipe is perfect!

You quickly mix together Boursin cheese and ground beef to create small meatballs. Brown the meatballs in your pan, remove, then make the creamy herb sauce. Once it's going, you add the quick cooking egg noodles and browned meatballs back in the pan to finish cooking. Add a little more Boursin and some chives and you've got dinner!

Boursin cheese is a soft cheese - often flavored - found in your specialty cheese section of the grocery store. I used garlic and herb but you could switch it up. 

Herb Pasta & Meatballs
1 pound lean ground beef
1 package garlic and herb Boursin cheese
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3.5 cups low sodium chicken broth
8 ounces egg noodles
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives

Combine beef, 5 tablespoons Boursin cheese, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl and gently combine. Form mixture into 1 inch meatballs. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook meatballs until well browned all over, about 5 minutes. Transfer meatballs to plate and pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pan.

Add the onion to the reserved fat and cook until browned, about 6-8 minutes. Sprinkle in flour and stir, cooking until golden, about 1 minute. Add the broth, noodles, and wine and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to med-low, and cook, stirring often, until pasta begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add meatballs and simmer, covered, until meatballs are cooked through and noodles are al dente, about 4 minutes.

Turn off the heat and stir in the  remaining Boursin cheese and chives. Season with salt and pepper.

Source: adapted from Cooks Country Magazine

Homemade SpaghettiOs

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This homemade version of my childhood favorite canned pasta with meatballs is 100x better than the kind found in the pantry!

This is my second time attempting homemade SpaghettiOs. I admittedly loved the canned stuff as a kid/poor college student but just couldn't buy it anymore. I desperately wanted a relatively easy way to fill my SpaghettiOs void! The first time flopped; my meatballs fell apart, my sauce was thin, and I was incredibly frustrated by the end.

Couple years later, I found the courage to try it again thanks to everyone's favorite America's Test Kitchen. Is there anything they can't do?

This time was a huge success! I desperately wanted to hoard the entire pot for myself but finally relented and let my husband enjoy it, too. It was relatively easy - took only 1 pot and about 45 minutes, much of which is hand's off. The use of an immersion blender shaves tons of time and hassle - you should definitely invest in one (they are around $15 and take up very little space!).

You could make your own pesto... but in this recipe, it's hardly worth the effort. Save the homemade version for dishes that let it shine!

Homemade SpaghettiOs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3.5 cups chicken broth
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
8 ounces meatloaf mix (50% lean ground beef & 50% ground pork)
1/4 cup basil pesto
1/4 cup panko
salt and pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) ditalini

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the broth and tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix together the ground meat, pesto, panko, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Pinch off heaping teaspoons of meat mixture and roll into small, 3/4-inch meatballs (there should be around 32 total).

Remove the pot from heat and puree the soup using your immersion blender. Once the soup is smooth, move the pot back to the burner and bring it back to a simmer. Stir in the pasta and carefully add the meatballs. Continue to simmer, uncovered, until the pasta is tender and the meatballs are cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Be careful when stirring to avoid breaking apart the meatballs.

Season with additional salt and pepper, if needed, and carefully ladle into bowls.

Source: adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Meatball and Ziti Bake

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A delicious classic! This tasty pasta is loaded with meatballs and weeknight easy!

I love pasta - particularly because most pasta dishes are easily a one pot meal! I'm all about easy on a busy weeknight. This particular pasta is not loaded with cream, cheese, or even empty carbs so I had no guilt chowing down on a big bowlful.

Most households with children would especially love it. It's even easy enough for kids to help cook!

Meatball & Ziti Bake
6 ounces uncooked whole-wheat ziti
1/3 cup panko
2 tablespoons minced garlic, divided
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
16 ounces 90% lean ground sirloin
1 large egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, divided
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat broiler to high.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the panko, 1 tablespoon garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, black pepper, ground beef, and egg. Mix until just combined - don't overmix. Shape into 1 inch meatballs and set aside.

In a large ovenproof skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Add remaining 1 tablespoon garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add reserved 1/2 cup cooking water, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons basil, crushed red pepper, and tomatoes to pan. Reduce heat to medium; cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Stir pasta into tomato mixture and spread evenly. Sprinkle cheese over top. Broil 1 minute or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon basil before serving.

Source: adapted from Cooking Light

North African Meatballs with Couscous

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One of the best tasting dishes you'll make! A complex blend of sweet and salty that is anything but complex in it's creation. This is one of our favorites!

When you love trying new recipes, you don't repeat meals very often. Which is a shame, really, because I occasionally come across a dud of a recipe (don't worry - I don't share them here!) and wish I had reached for a known winner instead. Since many of my earlier (and, ahem, present) photos leave a lot to be desired, I've tried to pull out favorites from the archives to reshoot. And as a bonus, we get to eat them again!

This is one of those dishes and while the 2nd photo attempt isn't much better than the first, I'm sharing the recipe anyways because it's DARN GOOD. Healthy, inexpensive to make, and simple in it's cooking technique but you would never know it from the taste. It's similar to a Moroccan dish in that it has a complex sweet and salty thing going on. In other words, it's delicious and you should make it.

I don't change it too much from the original because it's got 500+ five star reviews for good reason :)

You can easily sub in ground turkey or lamb instead of the beef!

North African Meatballs with Couscous

For the meatballs:
1 egg
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch ground cinnamon
1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup bread crumbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, for cooking

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lemon, zested
1/2 cup pitted and chopped briny olives
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock or broth
1 (14-ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
pinch ground cinnamon
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the couscous:
1 cup water
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped dried cranberries
1 cup quick-cooking couscous
salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, make the meatballs. In a medium bowl, combine the egg and tomato paste and stir until smooth. Add the cilantro, ginger, cumin, and cinnamon and mix until well blended. Stir in the ground beef and bread crumbs, season with salt and pepper, and combine gently. Do not overmix. Roll into 1 inch in diameter meatballs.

In a large saute pan, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat and brown the meatballs in batches until golden on all sides. Transfer once browned to a plate.

Once all the meatballs are browned and removed from the pan, make the sauce. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the hot pan and saute the onion and garlic until soft but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the lemon zest and olives and cook for 1 more minute. Add the white wine and scrape the browned bits off the bottom. Let the wine reduce for 1 to 2 minutes and then stir in the stock, canned tomatoes, sugar, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon. Simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the reserved meatballs to the sauce and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.

While the meatballs are simmering, make the couscous. Bring the water, stock, and oil to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the cranberries followed by the couscous. Cover the pan tightly with a lid, remove from the heat, and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve the meatballs and sauce over prepared couscous.

Source: slightly adapted from Melissa d'Arabian