By Samantha Schwalm
I love more than anything to cook with my children. Among all of the benefits to cooking with your kids, of which there are many, my favorite is I learn things with out asking. They are much more into telling me a story or a bit of information in the kitchen while stirring a pot. One of our favorite things to make, which is a lot easier than one would think, is spaghetti and meatballs. Dried or fresh pasta maybe used. The pasta sauce and meatballs, however, must be homemade. Here is a simple sauce:
Pasta sauce:
3 T olive oil
1/2 onion
2 carrots
1 garlic clove
24 oz can of diced unsalted tomatoes (unless you can find good fresh Roma tomatoes)
8oz can of tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar (yes sugar)
1 bunch of basil
Dutch oven or large sauce pan
Blender or a hand held immersion blender
In the dutch oven or large sauce pan, over medium heat, place onions, garlic, carrots. Sauté until translucent. About 3 to 5 minutes. Next add all of the other ingredients and stir together. Bring to boil and let simmer for at least 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove from the heat, and slowly (in small batches) blend the sauce until smooth. Mix together and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Easy Meatballs:
1 lbs ground veal or beef
1/4 bread crumbs
1 T grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 T dried oregano & thyme
Preheat oven to 350, and grease a baking sheet
Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together.
Make small evenly sized balls with your hands and place on the baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes
Meatballs maybe made ahead of time, and reheated in the sauce. Both sauce and meatballs maybe frozen, separately, for later use.
If you have an further questions or would like to know how to make something else, please tweet me @ParisKabatChef
