Recipes: My Spaghetti and Meatballs

If I had to choose between cooking and cleaning, I’d choose cooking, every day. I despise cleaning, but I love to cook, and this worked out perfectly when I moved in with my boyfriend, as he enjoys cleaning and finds it therapeutic. So, we made a deal: I do the cooking, he does the cleaning. It’s a fair trade. We moved in together at the beginning of March 2019, but it wasn’t until late fall/early winter 2020 when I really started expanding my cooking skills. I decided to look at the cold weather as a positive thing: I had more opportunities to do things inside that I wouldn’t normally do during the nice weather, like leveling up my cooking skills.

Spaghetti and meatballs is a classic in my family, many of our Sunday dinners revolve around it. However, when all of us got COVID those dinners stopped, and I had to take matters into my own hands. Cue this delicious, mouth-watering gluten and dairy-free spaghetti and meatballs recipe with gluten and dairy-free garlic bread on the side (optional, of course). Curious? You should be—I made this recipe for my boyfriend and best friend who aren’t gluten or dairy-free and they loved it, they said they couldn’t taste a difference. The best part? It’s super simple and easy to make! Scroll down for the full recipe.

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My Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs:

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Ingredients:

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I use the Piedmontese 96% lean ground beef for my meatballs—the absolute best ground beef I’ve ever tasted. My boyfriend’s affiliated with the brand, and we’ve been fortunate enough to taste all of their mind-blowing products from filet mignons to ground beef and steak tips. If you’re a major foodie and want naturally lean, grass-fed meat that isn’t dry and holds taste like more fatty beefs and steaks tend to, I highly recommend giving Piedmontese products a try. Disclaimer: they are a little pricey, but so worth it, and if you use the code NICK25 at checkout you’ll save 25% off your entire order! My boyfriend will make some commission off the code being used as well, so it’s a win-win for everyone.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 lb Piedmontese 96% lean ground beef (substitute any other kind of ground beef)
• 2 boxes of gluten-free spaghetti
• 3 small onions, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 1/2 tbs minced garlic
• 2 tbs oregano
• 2 tbs parsley flakes
• 2 tbs basil
• 1 tbs garlic salt
• 1 cup of gluten-free panko bread crumbs
• 14 oz tomato sauce
• 10 oz crushed tomatoes
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 large mixing bowl
• 1 medium-large microwave safe bowl
• 1 large and deep pot
• 1 large skillet or another deep pot

OPTIONAL SIDE OF DAIRY + GLUTEN-FREE GARLIC BREAD:

• 4-6 slices of gluten-free bread (I use Canyon Bakehouse Heritage Style)
• SmartBalance imitation butter (substitute Earth Balance)
• Minced garlic
• Garlic salt
• Aluminum foil OR non-stick cooking spray
• Oven-safe baking/cookie sheet

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Instructions:

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SPAGHETTI DIRECTIONS:

1. Fill up a very large and deep pot with warm water, stopping just below the rim. Place on stovetop, and sprinkle a good amount of salt into water.
2. Turn stove on and bring water to a boil. Add a couple more dashes of salt while water is beginning to heat up, before it comes to a complete boil. Once water is boiling, add in spaghetti—do not break it and keep water at a boil as long as it’s not overflowing!
   1. Optional: add another dash of salt.
3. Once all spaghetti has been added into pot, set timer for lowest amount of time needed to cook so pasta comes out al dente.
4. As spaghetti softens, gently press down on pieces already submerged in water to allow the pieces sticking out of water to enter. This will help prevent any breakage in spaghetti and also cook every piece fully.
   1. Note: should water begin spilling out of bowl onto stove, lower the heat.
5. Once timer goes off, immediately remove from burner and drain immediately through colander, then pour spaghetti back into pot and keep off burner so spaghetti doesn’t overcook! Set aside and cover.

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MEATBALLS + SAUCE:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 egg, 1/2 cup of water, 1 tbs of minced a garlic, and finely chopped onions. Whisk all ingredients together well so the flavor can fully penetrate the ground beef.
2. Add in ground beef, 1 tbs of basil, 1 tbs of parsley flakes, 1 tbs of oregano, 1 tbs of garlic salt, and 1 cup of gluten-free bread crumbs into bowl. Sprinkle in salt and black pepper.
3. Combine all ingredients together using hands.
4. Once everything has been combined, begin rolling meatballs using hands. Place rolled meatballs in medium microwave-safe bowl.
5. After all the meatballs have been rolled, cover and cook in microwave for 3 minutes on power level 5. Meanwhile, begin working on sauce.
6. Sauce directions: Pour tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes into skillet or a very large, deep pot. Add in 1 tbs of minced garlic, 1 tbs of basil, 1 tbs of parsley flakes, and 1 tbs of oregano. Sprinkle in salt, black pepper, and garlic salt.
7. Turn heat on medium and continually stir ingredients. Once sauce begins to boil/bubble, reduce heat to low. Continue stirring, and check on meatballs.
   1. Meatballs should look more cooked than raw and rare, but not fully cooked through. If they do look like that, you can now combine them with the sauce. If meatballs, still look very raw and rare, cook again in microwave for 2-3 minutes on power level 3.
      1. Note: if unsure of how much time is needed, start with 2 minutes in order to avoid overcooking.
8. Using a large spoon, take each meatball and drop it into the sauce. Once all the meatballs have been added, gently stir ingredients around. Stir frequently to prevent sauce from burning.
9. Allow meatballs to simmer on stovetop until cooked through fully but still tender. Meatballs should break apart easily with a fork but have no pink in the middle.
10. Once meatballs are fully cooked, turn off burner and combine sauce, meatballs, and spaghetti. Serve alone or with a side of garlic bread.

Optional Side of Garlic Bread:

1. While spaghetti is cooking, preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cover an oven-safe cooking/baking sheet with aluminum foil or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Place 4-6 slices of gluten-free bread on sheet.
4. Spread SmartBalance evenly on bread on side facing up.
5. Sprinkle garlic salt over entire slice of bread on side facing up.
6. Drop desired amount of minced garlic onto bread slices using a small spoon.
7. Once oven is pre-heated, and sauce is on the stove simmering, place baking sheet with bread in for 8 minutes, then check bread.
   1. Note: Bread shouldn’t be burnt on top but should be slightly burnt and more crispy on the bottom; firm on the outer edges and softer in the center. The edges of the bread should look golden brown-brown, if edges of bread don’t look like that, cook for another 2 minutes and check again. Repeat process until edges are golden brown-brown.
8. Remove from sheet and place in bread basket or on plate. Serve right away with spaghetti and meatballs.

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