Pasta is my DD’s all time favorite. When she is not in a mood to eat anything and everything, this form of Italian cuisine blends inexplicably into my Indian household. 🙂 Usually I make pasta in various forms; this is one of them. I hardly use the store bought sauce; mostly I prefer to prepare my own sauce at home, which makes the pasta even more healthy and nutritious. DD loooooovveeesss home-made pasta (touchwood!!). Not that she does not like the restaurant one, but she does exhibit a frown on her little face when she would see her pasta floating in a bed of sauce (doesn’t matter cream sauce or tomato).
According to the myth, meatballs are most often cooked with spaghetti. But then as I said, it is just a myth. You can cook this dish with literally any form of pasta – you name it and it will be turn out to be a healthy hearty Italian dish. I have prepared this recipe with fusilli.
And talking about meatballs, well who doesn’t love meatballs? Juicy tender meatballs that would melt in your mouth! Wow! You could use any meat – beef, turkey, chicken, lamb. This recipe uses minced lamb and fusilli cooked in fresh home-made tomato sauce. The recipe also uses almond milk and cream cheese, which makes it fresh unique and delectable.
Unlike traditional recipes, this pasta dish including the meatballs, is low in fat; yet full of the terrific taste that you would be craving for. And trust me, it would easily beat any of those pasta dishes that you eat at a restaurant. 🙂
Ingredients :Â
Pasta – 1 cup (spaghetti/ fusilli)
Minced lamb meat (sufficient to make 10-12 small balls)
(For meatballs) –Â Salt, pepper, cumin powder, dried red chilli flakes, dried oregano
(For pasta) – finely chopped garlic (3-4 cloves)
Tomatoes (2-3 medium sized)
Garlic chilli sauce – 1 tbsp
Heinz tomato ketchup / chilli sauce – 1 tbsp
Dried red chilli paste – 1 tbsp (store bought)
Cream cheese – 1 tbsp (you could use parmesan)
Almond milk – 1/2 cup
Cooked tender chicken breasts – cut into bite size pieces
Chicken ham – 2-3 slices (cut into small cubes)
Dried oregano and parsley – 1/2 tbsp each
Dried chilli flakes – 1 tbsp
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper – as per tasted
Recipe:
Take a pot with boiling water (salted generously) and add in the pasta. When cooked, drain.
Mix in the dry ingredients and spices into the minced meat. Make around 10-12 small meatballs using your hands. Place them on a baking sheet and pop the tray into the oven preheated to 180 degree celsius. Let it cook for 12-15 mins.
Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pan. Add the chopped garlic. As soon as they start sizzling and nearly start to get some colour, pop in the chopped tomatoes. (Be careful not to burn the garlic). Put in some almond milk and cover the pan, cook for 5 mins or until the tomatoes turn mushy.
Add in the chilli paste, garlic chilli sauce, Heinz ketchup, cooked chicken breast pieces and chicken ham. Stir everything together for a few mins. The whole thing will start getting a sauce like consistency. Put in salt (to taste), black pepper, dried chilli flakes, dried oregano and parsley. Give it a mix. Be careful while mixing salt as you have to bear in mind that even the pasta was cooked in salted water.
Pour in the cooked drained pasta and give it a good mix with the sauce. In the last add in cream cheese or parmesan and give it a slight stir. Turn off the gas. Drizzle extra virgin oilve oil on top.
P.S – If you think it is getting dry, you can use 5-6 tbsp of the starchy water leftout after draining the pasta.
End of the day, you will pat your back for serving yummy healthy and delicious pasta on the table. Trust me, your family would love to have that for dinner! 🙂
Healthy Indian kitchen 