This is the second in what I think will be quite a few of these recipe swaps. On my What Cooking board we have a group of fellow foodies who love cooking and baking and wanted some new recipes! So one of the ladies coordinates these recipe swaps. She collects the recipes from the participants and then randomly sends them out to their new chef. This was the one I won!
I did the recipe pretty much as listed except I made my own meatballs, which is back in the blog a couple weeks/month (time is running together) and I used a different pasta. Here is the original recipe by Jey.
My review….. I liked it, alot. I will have to tweak it a bit to make it more WW friendly but I loved how creamy it was. I LOVED the spinach and the basil I added. The kids loved it.. and ate it up pretty quick! For them it was like a meatball lasagna! LOL Mr Pickypants wasnts as impressed. He isnt a huge fan of ricotta, so this didnt do much for him. We will see how well he likes it once I tweak it a bit.
Ingredients
I didnt put this in WW for point because I was scared too.. so this was a splurge meal for me. It took about an hour to make including baking time.
1 onion chopped
4-9 cloves of garlic (the recipe called for 4 I used 9 because that is what Rob peeled)
1 14 can diced tomatoes
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 box of pasta cooked aldente. I used campanelle, they look like trumpets!
1 16 oz bag of spinach
1/4 cup fresh basil
12 oz of ricotta
Pinch of nutmeg or grate fresh
S & P
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
4 oz of fresh mozzarella
25-30 Meatballs
Cast of Characters
Set up your pasta pot and fill w salted water.
Chop the onions
And the garlic
Add them to another dutch oven/ 8 quart pot. No need to add oil or anything.
Turn the pot onto medium high, and then drain the tomatoes.
Add the juice to the pot and use that to cook the onions and garlic. No need to waste the flavor or to add any oil.
Next is to prep your spinach. In a large bowl tear up the spinach. If using baby spinach then you really dont have to but if you are using regular I tear it up and take out the large center stalk. I think they are bitter.
Add the tomatoes once the onions are translucent.
And then the pasta sauce.
And then the meatballs.
Let simmer for 20 minutes while you finish the rest of the dish, stirring often. I love the smell of sauce cooking. The warm richness of the tomato and the onion and the spices! I love alot of basil in my pasta which is why I added basil rather than parsley (like the original recipe used). One of my favorite things to eat is a caprese salad. Tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella drizzled with balsamic vinegar! HEAVEN…. Oh and extra salt! Okay back to this recipe….. haha cut up your fresh basil into ribbons.
Add to the bowl with the spinach. I like the barely cooked/slightly crisp aspect of the spinach and the sharp bite of the basil is a nice contrast to the creamy sweetness of the ricotta.
Grate the nutmeg into the bowl with the spinach/basil.
Then the salt and pepper. You wont need too much salt since you salted the pasta water.
Check on the pasta frequently, you do not want it too cooked or else it will turn to mush in the oven.
About this time your meatballs and sauce should be ready.. Just turn it off because you dont want it too thick. MMMMMMMM I love the smell of sauce and meatballs cooking. I just want to dig in and eat like 3-4 of these on a piece of garlic bread!
Add the ricotta to the spinach reserving 3/4 a cup or so for the top, and combine.
Drain the pasta when it is al dente.
Then add quickly to the spinach.
Add the meatballs and most of the sauce leaving some in the bottom….
Then mix to incorporate.
Dump back into the dutch oven..
Dot with the remaining ricotta, and the parmesan and fresh mozzarella. Bake for 10-15 minutes covered in a 350 oven. Remove the cover and bake until the desired browning melting has occurred..
Then plate up with your favorite veggies.
This was a melty yummy fresh tasting wonderful mix of flavors. I adore ricotta so this worked for me. I would cut back to about 1/2 a container next time to make it more palatable for Rob but for the most part, this was a success with the recipe swap..
Happy Cooking and Swapping!
Musings of a Part Time Housewife 