A healthy spin on spaghetti and meatballs….
For the “spaghetti”–
5 small/medium sized zucchini
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter (optional, but I used it. What the Hell, right?)
Cut off the ends of the zucchini and rinse well. Use a vegetable peeler to make your “spaghetti” noodles. Stop peeling when you get to the seeded part.
Fava beans–
I bought two pounds of fava beans, momentarily forgetting that two pounds of fava beans in pods equals approximately .025963 cups of actual beans. They were more in here for shits and giggles (and a little boost of something else healthy).
For the meatballs–
Let me preface this by saying I’ve never ever made good meatballs. They’re always too something- too dry, too gross, too cooked. This recipe is awesome. Go me (!!), since I made it up.
2 lbs. ground turkey (use organic if you can)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat breadcrumbs, panko would have been my first choice)
5 or 6 shakes of the following:
– garlic powder
-onion powder
–Italian seasoning
-red pepper flakes
1-2 tsp. fennel seed
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs
salt and pepper
a handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix until just incorporated. Don’t mash it all up- this is what makes meatballs tough when they’re finished cooking. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam (my secret kitchen hero). Shape meatballs into whatever size you’d like and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Take a sauté pan and, over medium high heat, warm olive oil and butter until melted. Add minced garlic and stir. Add zucchini, stirring so oil/butter/garlic covers the vegetables (at this point I added my six-bean haul of favas). Salt and pepper them. I let this cook over high for 5-6 minutes, and then added about 1/2 cup water, covered, and let the zucchini steam. Take off the lid and reduce heat to medium low for another 5-6 minutes to let the liquid reduce. Salt and pepper again.
Toss your “pasta” and meatballs and enjoy!
