When David was here, he made what he called his “meatball dinner.” Nothing but your typical spaghetti and meatballs, sans the spaghetti. It was good, and tonight I made it my way.

Meatballs and Spicy Sausage Marinara

Ingredients
3/4 lb. Pennette (small penne pasta)
1lb ground beef or ground turkey
1/2 Tbsp fresh parsley
2 Tsp crushed garlic
1 large egg
1 jar traditional or basil pasta sauce
2 spicy Italian sausage links, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1/4 cup bread crumbs (one slice of bread toasted and crumbled)

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, combine ground beef, garlic, parsley and egg. Add bread crumbs. Mix well.
  2. Form mixture into 1″ balls
  3. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in 2 qt sauce pan. Brown meatballs and sausages.
  4. Add pasta sauce. Simmer on low for an hour
  5. 20 minutes before sauce is done, cook pasta according to package.

I served the sauce over the pasta with Parmesan cheese and a little toasted some Na’an bread for dipping. The boys ate it up voraciously. A simple yet crowd-pleasing meal.

And you know I loved it when the boys all cheered my cooking. I’m really starting to enjoying making my own food.