Spaghetti & Meatballs is one of those classic dishes that everyone loves. It’s wholesome and delicious. It’s the kind of thing you want after a hard day at work when you’re tired and busy and it’s raining outside and the family is asking “What’s for dinner?” It can also be the kind of dish that makes a massive mess of the kitchen, but it doesn’t have to be. Allow me to introduce you to the idea of a one-pot version of this crowd-pleasing classic. No mess, no fuss and only one pot to clean when it’s all said and done. It sounds too good to be true, but it isn’t.
I make meatballs all the time and I love doing it. It’s therapeutic, the repetitive motion of rolling 20 or more little balls out of a mixture I’ve created myself, but sometimes there just isn’t enough time or energy for this task. I’m hungry, I’m tired and I don’t want a lot of mess to clean up. That’s when I need something a bit easier and more convenient – when I reach for the store-bought meatballs and I’m not one bit sorry about it. There are a lot of options if you look for them and most that I’ve tried have been delicious. Of course they’re not nearly as good as the ones you painstakingly make yourself by hand, but sometimes they’re good enough. There’s a time and a place for everything. There’s a time for your homemade meatballs and there are certainly times when you can pull out this quick, easy and delicious comfort food recipe that does the job brilliantly. If you need permission to use pre-made meatballs, then here it is. I won’t only suggest it, I’ll encourage it.
This is the kind of recipe I make on a weeknight when I’m tired or on the weekend when I’m feeling a bit lazy and prefer to spend my time with a movie or a book rather than in the kitchen. I might make it on a Sunday to portion into containers for warming up at lunchtime through the week, or I might make this on holiday in an Airbnb because it’s easy. I even made this dish while I was sick once because the rewards far outweigh the effort, but it’s not just about ease. As much as it is convenient, I sometimes crave this so much that I’ll run across the street to the mini grocery store to pick up ingredients so I can make it for lunch because it’s that yummo and it helps that I can pretty much whip this up anywhere, anytime. We all need a few recipes like that in our arsenal.
All you need to get started is a large flameproof casserole (aka dutch oven) or a very deep frying pan with a lid and a wooden spoon. Easy peasy so let’s get started.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or garlic oil
- 12 or 16 readymade beef meatballs from the grocery store
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 300g dried spaghetti
- 1 bottle of passata (700g)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar or caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese plus extra for serving
- 25g unsalted butter
Method
- Heat the olive oil in your flameproof casserole over medium heat. Fry the meatballs until they are browned on all sides and the bottom of the pan is starting to brown. This browning on the pan is flavour that will be incorporated into the whole dish later.
- Add the garlic, dried oregano, dried basil and chilli flakes. Stir and continue to cook for another minute or two.
- Pour in the passata and using your wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the pan gently to deglaze it and bring that browning into the mix.
- Fill the passata jar with water and pour into the pot. Stir and add the pasta. Now crank up the heat to high.
- Bring to the boil and help nudge the pasta into the pan as the parts submerged in the sauce begin to soften. Once it’s boiling and everything is in, clamp on the lid and reduce the heat to low. Cook this for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice during that time or until pasta is cooked to the desired consistency.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and the butter and continue stirring until it’s all melted and incorporated and remove it from the heat.
- Serve hot in pasta bowls or on plates with grated Parmesan cheese for sprinkling.
