Pastina Soup with Easy Homemade Meatballs

I made this soup almost a year ago, way back in August, when I was diagnosed with GERD, which is a severe form of acid reflux. I had to go on a bland diet, which was not a lot of fun, but the alternative was painful so I stuck to the bland diet as best I could. Not eating the foods I liked was hard, since I like eating foods with a lot of flavor. This soup was really bland, so I decided to add some flavor by baking meatballs. Luckily the meatballs had enough flavor to make eating the soup bearable. And the peas added enough taste as well. I didn't do a whole lot of cooking during my time that I had to eat my bland diet-not a whole lot of experimenting, mainly because what I tried didn't agree with me. Which is why I didn't post a whole lot. Luckily I can eat almost anything now, thankfully! The only thing I can't eat yet are tomatoes or anything tomato-based so no spaghetti sauces or ketchup or anything red-sauced but if that's the only thing I have to stay away from, then that's okay with me! And I also tend to stay away from a lot of citrus and high salty foods as well, just to be on the safe side. I have book-marked the recipes I did try, so I'll post those now. Bear with me while I post a bunch in a row!

Pastina Soup (4 servings) (Food Network):

*Soup

1 tbsp EVOO
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 shallots, minced
3 sprigs thyme
Salt
1 2-inch parm cheese rind
1 qt chicken stock (I used broth)
1 3/4 c star-shaped pastina (I could only find a small shaped pasta, which worked just as well)
1 c frozen peas
1/2 c grated parm
1 tsp grated lemon zest, optional

For the meatball recipe, click here




Cooked meatballs...

Soup simmering with the meatballs added...

Enjoy!!

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

I found this recipe in one of Paula Deen's recipe magazines. I love meatballs and this one seemed like an easy recipe. Not to mention it made a bunch so I knew I could easily freeze the majority of it and eat more of it at a later time. Even better! I didn't read the recipe all the way through initially but the list of ingredients was short enough. Once I read through it, I realized that I add everything together except the buffalo wing sauce, which is really different but I was game to try it! Everything smelled so good while mixing it together that I even texted my friend telling her that the raw ingredients smelled so good that I hoped the cooked meal tasted as good as it smelled! It definitely did! The meatballs had such a unique texture with the celery and the blue cheese and the panko all mixed together. The celery and panko gave the meatballs a crunchy texture and the blue cheese had a smooth flavor to it. It was a surprisingly good combination! I used Frank's Buffalo Hot Sauce as the sauce I used to pour over the meatballs and then of course I used a blue cheese sauce as a dipping sauce. So good! I'll definitely make these again and again! I have some in the freezer now I can eat when I crave them again, which will be soon!

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs (Paula Deen) (3 1/2 dozen):

2 lb ground chicken
2 c panko
1 c diced celery
4 oz blue cheese, crumbled
1/3 c minced green onion
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
2 c buffalo wing sauce

Preheat oven to 400. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place a wire rack on pan and spray rack with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir together ground chicken and next 7 ingredients until well combined. Shape mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on prepared rack.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 (I had to cook mine close to 30 minutes for mine to read 165 but I think I made my meatballs quite large). Toss meatballs with wing sauce and serve. Enjoy!




Ready to be mixed together...






Ready to be baked...






Enjoy!...

Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce

I've been meaning to make this recipe for a while now and I had all the ingredients so I decided to make it tonight. Super easy to put together and it tasted amazing. The dipping sauce really gives the meatballs a lot of flavor. The author of the blog I found this on suggested pouring a little of the sauce on top of the meatballs instead of dipping it and I did that and yum! I'll definitely make this recipe again! I added 2 cloves of garlic instead of one because you can't just have one garlic clove!

Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce (4 servings):

*Meatballs

1/4 c panko
1 1/4 lb ground turkey
1 egg
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

*Dipping Sauce

4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp water
1 chopped fresh scallion

Preheat oven to 500. Mix ground turkey, panko, egg, salt, scallions, ginger, cilantro, soy sauce and sesame oil with your hands until combined well. Shape 1/4 c meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a baking dish. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

For dipping sauce, mix everything together. Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with 1 tbsp sauce. Serve meatballs with remaining sauce. Enjoy!




Ready to be baked...






Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce...






Fresh from the oven...






Enjoy!...

Blue Cheese Stuffed Meatballs with a Homemade Sauce

I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner one night and my mind kept going back and forth between a Jucy Lucy or cheese stuffed meatballs. It probably didn't help that I saw a cooking show earlier in the day about the Jucy Lucy. In the end I decided to try to make stuffed meatballs. But I made a couple mistakes. I only had blue cheese, which was good but so rich and since it's such a soft cheese, a lot of it oozed out of the meatballs during cooking. I also used too much parsley. But other than that, the meatballs had really good flavor.

I also wanted to attempt another try at making a homemade sauce. I did't have a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes but I did have a 14 1/2 oz can of diced tomatoes and a 14 1/2 oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes so I used that. Apparently I've never used fire-roasted tomatoes before because I didn't realize how spicy they are! Not a big fan! I think if I would have used regular tomatoes it would have been okay though. All in all I was happy with the taste of the sauce, just not the spiciness of it. I think I'd try to make this again and try to correct the mistakes I made.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Meatballs with a Homemade Sauce (4-6 servings):

1 lb ground turkey
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 c minced parsley
1 egg
1/2 c panko
Blue cheese, cut into chunks
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
14 1/2 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes (or 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes instead of the 2 cans)
1 c minced white onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c red wine
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. If not using a meatball pan, cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Combine the ground turkey, garlic, parsley, egg and panko in med bowl and mix well with your hands. Shape into a small disc, place a piece of blue cheese in the middle and add another small disc of meat over the cheese. Carefully seal the meat around the cheese and form into a med-size meatballs. Place meatballs on prepared pan or meatball rack. Cook in the oven about 25-30 min or until cooked in the center.

While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the sauce. In a deep pan, heat oil until hot. Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Once onion is soft, add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Cook until most of wine has evaporated, about 5-7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer about 20 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, grate in about 1 tsp of fresh nutmeg. If you don't want your sauce chunky, use an immersion blender to blend it down to a smoother consistency. Once the sauce is cooked, add 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar, to taste. (The brown sugar brings down some of the acidity of the sauce.)

I made some pasta to serve with the meatballs and sauce. Enjoy!




Ready to be cooked...






Cooked meatballs...






Cheese oozing out...






Sauce...






Enjoy!...

Meatballs with Polenta

I have no idea where I got this book but I was looking through my recipe books a couple weeks ago and came across this recipe. I love meatballs and I'm starting to really like polenta so I thought I'd give it a try. I cut the meat in half and only used ground turkey-it called for 8 oz ground sirloin and 8 oz ground turkey-and it still made a lot of meatballs with just 8 oz ground turkey! So glad I decided not to include the sirloin as well. This recipe made more than the 4 servings it suggests. I added some ginger and garlic to the ground turkey since there wasn't a lot of spices that were involved. The only thing I didn't like about this recipe was the leftovers. The polenta hardened up and turned really thick and even after reheating it, it still remained chunky-not the smooth polenta I had originally made that night. I think I'd make this again, but I think I'd try to half it and only make up the polenta I would need for that meal at a time. I also added a lot of Parmesan cheese to this recipe and spiced up the polenta with garlic salt. I used panko instead of the soaked bread, mainly because soft bread makes me gag.

Meatballs with Polenta: 4 servings

8 oz ground sirloin
8 oz ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 c chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
1/4 c Parmesan, plus more for garnish
1/2 c tsp fennel seeds
Salt and pepper
1 slice whole bread, torn into small pieces and briefly soaked in milk (I used about 1/2 c panko)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp minced ginger
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 c dried polenta, prepared according to pkg directions

Preheat oven to 450. Combine sirloin, turkey, egg, parsley, Parmesan, fennel seeds, ginger, garlic and 1/2 tsp salt in large mixing bowl. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and add it to the bowl (or use panko). Using your clean hands, gently mix the ingredients together. Form meatballs the size of golf balls, about 1" in diameter, being careful not to overwork the meat. Place the meatballs in a baking dish and bake for 25 minutes, until nicely browned all over.

While the meatballs bake, heat the oil in a a deep skillet/pot (the sauce will splatter as it simmers!) over med. Add the onion, garlic, and pepper flakes and cook for about 3 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes, plus salt and pepper to taste, and simmer while the meatballs finish cooking.

Transfer the meatballs straight from the oven to the sauce. Cook for at least 10 minutes (but preferable 20-30 minutes), turning the meatballs so that all parts have a chance to simmer in the sauce. Serve the meatballs and sauce over the soft polenta, topped with a bit of chopped parsley and grated Parmesan.




Meatballs ready for the oven...






Cooked meatballs...






Cooked meatballs added to the sauce...






Polenta...






Polenta topped with Parmesan...






Meatballs simmering in the sauce...






Enjoy!...

Hoisin Cocktail Meatballs

I found this recipe in Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine last year. I actually made these meatballs last year for Christmas but I forgot what they tasted like. And they are soooooo good! And super easy to make. And make great leftovers!

Ingredients:

Meatballs

1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
3 tbsp minced fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp minced fresh gingerroot

Sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp minced fresh gingerroot

In a large bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well (with your hands!).

Shape into 32 meatballs. Place in a 13x9-in baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 20-25 min or until meat is no longer pink.


Meatballs ready to be baked...




Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the sauce ingredients; heat through.

Sauce simmering on the stove...




Meatballs are done!




Serve the sauce over the meatballs. When I made these meatballs, after they were done cooking, I placed everything into my slow cooker and turned it to warm until I was ready to use them. It worked perfectly!

Enjoy!