Who wouldn't want a meal that is basically 'hands off' and tastes great!
This meal can be made "totally homemade" by making and freezing Italian Meatballs ahead of time - using your Homemade Canned Tomato Sauce and even making your own "Bread Rolls"... I'd mention that we use some of my "Homemade Mozzarella" in this too but, didn't want to scare you away from an easy meal - because there is an "easy Button" route for this recipe! Just press the "easy button" and use store bought frozen Italian meatballs (your favorite brand), a store bought jar of pasta sauce, some provolone or mozzarella slices and soft hoagie rolls... There really isn't a "recipe" per say - you need to just keep in mind how many people you are serving and work form there. A meatball count of about 24 meatballs (2 oz size), a jar of sauce - will get you about 6 well stuffed Italian Meatball Sandwiches. Toss your frozen meatballs and sauce into a crockpot, set on high for 4 hours. When ready - spoon onto soft rolls and drape cheese over the top, set under a broiler if you want to melt the cheese a bit - this doesn't take long to melt so, keep an eye on it! Enjoy! Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home
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This wonderful casserole has fantastic flavors all throughout - the fennel adds the perfect touch. ~Enjoy! Diane
Penne & Meatball Bake with Fennel Ingredients: 3/4 lbs (12-oz.) cooked Penne pasta 1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced 1 medium-size fennel bulb, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 (24-oz.) jar marinara sauce *I use Aiello's or *my own homemade sauce (click here) 1/4 cup orange juice 1 (12-oz.) packages frozen 1/2oz" Italian meatballs, thawed *or make mine (click here) 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup fresh basil, chopped 2 cups fresh shredded mozzarella Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare Penne pasta according to package directions. Once cooked & drained, add a bit of butter to prevent noodles from sticking. Transfer to a lightly greased/buttered 13- x 9-inch baking dish. (the baking dish I used was a 12 x 8 oval) If you are making my meatballs, make into 1/2 oz rounds for this recipe. If you are using frozen meatballs from the store, make sure to thaw and use the smaller 1/2 oz meatballs if possible or even the minis - if preferred. Once thawed, place meatballs in and around pasta in baking dish. 2. Sauté onion and fennel bulb in hot oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and fennel seeds, and saute 1 minute. Stir in marinara sauce and the orange juice, bring to medium heat then lower and simmer covered: 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from heat, and stir in basil, and salt to taste. Transfer to baking dish, stirring into cooked pasta & meatballs, top with cheese and bake uncovered. 3. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Broil the final 3-4 minutes to brown the cheese on top if preferred. Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Swedish meatballs are one of my favorites and my Mom use to make mini ones for cocktail parties in a special sauce (hers are called by the Swedish name: Kottebullar) I have her recipe squirrel away somewhere but, these came out very similar in not only smell but, taste too! I used all ground beef as that is what I like best. A lot of recipes call for a mix of beef and pork so, feel free to make that change up. I think this is one of the easiest and tastiest meatballs. The allspice and nutmeg are prefect in these. The sauce is up to you - I like the traditional brown gravy beef sauce but, I know others who prefer a lingonberry jam based sauce or even barbecue sauce... ~Enjoy! Diane
Swedish Meatballs in Brown Gravy Ingredients: 1-1/4 lbs ground beef (or half ground beef & half ground pork) 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs 1 large egg 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 small onion, finely diced or grated into ground beef sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1 Tbs olive oil Gravy: 3 1/2 Tbs butter 3 1/2 Tbs flour 2 cups beef broth 1/3 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup sour cream splash of red wine **optional 1/2 tsp onion powder sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley leaves 1/2 cup diced cooked mushrooms *see note below Directions: In a large bowl, combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, allspice, nutmeg and onion, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 1 1/4-inch meatballs, forming about 24 meatballs. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a skillet. Add meatballs, and cook until all sides are browned, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to blot off grease. (UPDATE: Oven Bake instructions below.) for the gravy, melt butter in the skillet. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in beef broth and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in *sour cream and **red wine, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir meatballs into sauce in skillet with sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thickened, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley & serve over cooked butter noodles. Recipe Note: 1/2 cup diced, cooked mushrooms can be stirred into gravy as an option Want to oven Bake your meatballs? Use a large sheet pan with non-stick foil or a little olive oil on foil; place meatballs on sheet pan spacing evenly apart. Bake at 400F for 18-22 minutes. (internal temp should read at least 165F using an instant read thermometer.) Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |