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You are here: Home / Main Dish / Garlicky Meatball Pasta with Avocado-Butter Lettuce Salad

April 5, 2012 By Kaitlin 5 Comments

Garlicky Meatball Pasta with Avocado-Butter Lettuce Salad

Despite having an Italian mother, I have never made meatballs before. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it. Whelp, at the age of 26, I believe it is time to finally get my hands dirty and make some meatballs. One of Cooking Light’s 40 Fast Menus in Under 40 Minutes had a recipe for meatballs, so I used it as my base for this recipe.
For the Pasta:
9 ounces refrigerated fettuccine
12 ounces ground sirloin
2 sausages, removed from their casings
1/2 cup panko
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 3/4 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated
For the Salad:
1 cup chopped  red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups torn butter lettuce
1 cup sliced avocado

Because this is a very simple sauce, I’d suggest going for a premium high-quality marinara sauce.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, combine the beef, sausage meat, panko, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, and egg in a medium sized bowl. The original recipe did not have the sausage included, but I thought it would add some extra flavor (I used these awesome sausages from Martin‘s in Reading Terminal- Mozzarella and Basil Sausages, amazing right?)
Shape the mixture into small meatballs. The recipe says to make 16. I ended up with 10. I wasn’t very good at the whole eyeballing-the-right-size-thing.
By now the water should be boiling. Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain over a bowl to reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. (stir to flip the meatballs so they brown evenly)
Reduce the heat to medium low and add the sauce and 1/3 cup pasta water.
Cover and cook for 11 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.
While waiting for the sauce to cook, combine the red onion, olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper in a bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Add lettuce and avocado; toss gently.
When the sauce is finished cooking, mix in the pasta and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
Serve the pasta topped with some Parmesan cheese and the salad on the side.
I love how simple this recipe is but still packs a bunch of flavor! My normal tomato sauce takes forever to make, so I’m pretty excited to have a quick sauce when I need it.
Oh. And the meatballs? Fan-tastic. I could eat these all day.
The salad was really delicious as well! There was a bit too many onions for my liking, so I might limit the amount next time I make this.
I seem to forget how yummy simple recipes can be, something I need to remember as vegetables and fruits come back in season.

Related posts:

Fettuccine with Fresh Tomato Sauce Pesto Pasta Salad Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and GarlicPasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic Pesto Pasta with Peas

Filed Under: Main Dish, Pasta, Quick, Salad, Weeknight Meal Tagged With: Avocado, Basil, Butter Lettuce, Fettuccine, Garlic, Ground Beef, Lettuce, Lime, Marinara, Meatball, Panko, Parmesan, Pasta, Pomi, Quick, Red Onion, Salad, Sausage

Comments

  1. Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says

    April 5, 2012 at 12:29 pm

    Looks yummy! I bookmarked those meatballs too. Anything described as garlicky sounds pretty good to me!!

    Reply
  2. Kiri W. says

    April 5, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    Mmmmmm, those meatballs look fantastic! There is never enough garlic in my life, so this would be perfect 🙂

    Reply
  3. Food Jaunts says

    April 5, 2012 at 4:58 pm

    Looks gorgeous! I still remember the first time I made meatballs and thought to myself, “Why would anyone actually buy these – they’re so easy!”

    Did you use pork or chicken or turkey sausage to go with the beef?

    Reply
  4. Jenn Kendall says

    April 5, 2012 at 7:32 pm

    this looks fantastic! a seriously awesome meal!

    Reply
  5. cooking class vacation says

    July 20, 2012 at 6:42 am

    The meatballs were totally delicious, I’ll be sure to make this recipe again. Thanks.

    Reply

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