Frankies Spuntino Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs is a staple in our home. It's one of our favorites and a true comfort food for us. This recipe is from the Frankies Spuntino cookbook which is apparently a super yummy Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, I haven't been there (yet) so I get to enjoy this whenever I'm craving pasta and it makes it more bearable :)
The recipe is huge so I cut in half. The tomato sauce is simple and yummy and I'll never make a different one ever again. The meatballs are tender and juicy. David's cousin made this recipe for us a few years ago and I was hesitant about the meatballs because they had pine nuts and raisins in them. They ended up being my favorite ever. The raisins plump up when you cook the meatballs and provide a sweet little bite that goes so great with the rest of the ingredients. This is a true winner!

Here's the ingredients for the meatballs. I mix all of this together and form balls, and then either bake them on a baking sheet until mostly cooked through or in a pan with a little oil until just browned on all sides. Then, either way I've cooked them, I put them in the sauce to finish cooking for an hour or so.

• 2 slices plain white bread, torn into large pieces (about 2 packed cups)
• 1 pound ground beef (90 percent lean, no fattier)
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 2 Tablespoons finely grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for serving
•  2 Tablespoonscup pine nuts
• 2 Tablespoons raisins
• 1  teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup dried plain breadcrumbs

For the sauce:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 6 medium garlic cloves,chopped
• 2 (28-ounce) cans high-quality whole tomatoes, I prefer CENTO brand, with juices 
• 2 teaspoons salt

 Heat the oil in a high sided skillet. Open cans of tomatoes and have them ready. Add garlic and pepper flakes to the warm oil and cook for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and stir. I usually grab some scissors and cut the tomatoes up a little bit (they'll break down because the sauce cooks so long). Add salt. Cover and simmer on low for a few hours. 4 hours is ideal, but 2 should work fine. And the meatballs cook with the sauce for the last hour or so.
I always serve this with spaghetti, but it would work with any pasta, really.

 

Toasted Ravioli

I was craving pasta last night and found some frozen ravioli from Costco in my freezer. (the chicken, mozzarella, rosemary flavor). I was going to boil them and serve them with marinara when I remembered a little dish I made more than 3 years ago inspired by this Rachael Ray recipe. This is what I did last night, though, since I was in a rush and only had a few ingredients:

Box of frozen ravioli
Store bought breadcrumbs
1 egg
olive oil
jarred marinara sauce

Boil water
Put in ravioli (I cooked what I had, but it was probably about 15 pieces)
Heat olive oil in a different skillet(enough to cover bottom of pan)
Put a cup of store bought bread crumbs in a bowl
Break an egg into another bowl and beat it with a fork
Once ravioli floats and looks puffy, take them out to drain on a plate
Let the ravioli cool a little
Shake off excess water from a ravioli, dip it in the egg and dip it in the crumbs
Put the breaded ravioli into the oil
Cook on each side at like medium heat for 2-3 minutes
I like them really brown so I left them in a little longer
Heat jarred marinara sauce in a bowl in the microwave (i put a paper towel on the top of the bowl to prevent a sauce explosion from getting everywhere)

Serve with the sauce and dip with your hands. It's a nice little change from normal pasta, and it took...MAYBE 15 minutes. Don't worry, I served it with a salad so it wasn't completely unhealthy!

Tomato Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 carrots peeled and diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 pounds tomatoes on the vine- peeled
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ cup packed chopped fresh basil leaves
3 cups chicken broth or stock
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

I boiled my tomatoes in hot water for about 1-2 minutes, then took them out of the boiling water to cool. I peeled all of them so that the skins don't get into the soup. Then I chopped them up.

Saute carrots, onion, salt and pepper in the olive oil for about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes. Cook for 3 minutes. Add sugar, tomato paste, basil and stock. Simmer on low for 40 minutes. You want the tomatoes to be very tender. Ideally you'd want to use a hand blender at this point to blend up the soup. I don't have one so I just ladled small portions into my regular blender and blitzed it up. You have to be careful with blending hot things because the heat and pressure can blow the top off of the blender (so I held a kitchen towel over the top of the whole blender while blending. You can also use a food processor. Once it's blended as thin as you like it, reheat it and eat!

I served the soup with a drizzle of cream on top, because the soup is already so rich.

Pasta Fagioli

It's about time for another post! I feel like we've been eating the same things for the past few weeks, but I realized last night that my favorite soup recipe isn't on my blog. Here it is!

Pasta Fagioli Soup

This is a hearty vegetable, ground beef, pasta and bean soup. It's easy and really good.


2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped (any color. I like yellow because I think it's sweeter)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 pound ground beef or turkey or italian sausage
1 small zuchinni, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed (cannelini or white northern)
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup small pasta (ditalini, macaroni)
1 can stewed tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons salt (salt as you go, and taste at the end)
1 teaspoon pepper


In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add in onions + celery and a little bit of salt (this helps the onions sweat and release their juice). Cook 3 minutes. Add chopped garlic. Cook 2 minutes. Add in ground meat. Break it up and brown. Once there is no more pink in the meat, add the grated veggies.

Stir in the chicken broth (I like to use bullion cubes or canned broth. either one is fine) canned tomatoes, herbs, salt + pepper, + beans. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add in the pasta and cook for 15 more minutes, or until the pasta is soft.

Serve in bowls with some parmesan over the top, or more pepper- thats how I prefer it :)