Lazy Sunday Spaghetti and Meatballs
Posted: January 14, 2013 Filed under: Lunch/Dinner, Recipes 4 Comments »We had another lazy Sunday at our home yesterday, and I made spaghetti and meatballs for lunch. There’s an Italian restaurant in our building, but all their pasta contains eggs. I always want to stop in and pick up some cheesy ravioli. It would be so convenient and delicious, but instead, we enjoy allergy-friendly pasta at home. It’s easier, safer and cheaper. Plus, our food-allergic son is 19-months old, so we couldn’t linger over lunch anyway. Mealtime is usually quick and dirty—food all over the table, floor, etc.
My egg and dairy-free meatball recipe below is not fancy. It’s for every day. You can use them right away or throw them in the freezer. I sautéed about 3 cups of spinach with a tablespoon of olive oil, added 3 jars of prepared Barilla pasta sauce (400 grams each) and tossed in the meatballs. Then, I served it over a bowl of spaghetti from Coop, and everyone was happy.
The ingredients. Prepared pasta sauce saves time.
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Baked Egg/Dairy-Free Meatballs
Baked meatballs – before and after
I adapted this recipe from my favorite Betty Crocker cookbook, using flax meal with water instead of egg. I’m interested in hearing what others use as a substitution for eggs. For the bread crumbs, I grated some leftover and very dry bread.
About ½ kilogram or 1 lb. of ground beef
½ cup dry bread crumbs or panko
¼ cup rice milk
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 small onion (1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoons water; let set for a few minutes
Heat oven to 200°C/400°F. Mix all ingredients together. Form into 20 meatballs.
Place on an ungreased pan. Bake uncovered for about 20-25 minutes.
Spaghetti and Meatballs – the finished product
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An Afternoon Walk
After lunch, like we do on most Sundays, we took a family walk—or what our lovely Swiss neighbors refer to as a “promenade.” Nearly everything is closed, as I’ve mentioned many times before, so we head out to a local playground with the boys or find a hiking trail in the mountains. According to Newly Swissed, hiking is Switzerland’s “real national sport.”
Family hike in the woods
We packed along some water and snacks, and yesterday’s excursion included homemade cookies. I just adapted my favorite Snickerdoodle recipe, replacing the eggs with a flax meal and water mixture. Next time, I’ll try making these: Chai Spice Snickerdoodles from Post Punk Kitchen.
Hope you all had a great weekend. We’re heading back to the allergist this week and keeping our fingers crossed for some more good news…
Hi Heddi, I am going to try making meatballs in the oven like you do. We are visiting Asa and Thaddeus tomorrow and Asa has asked us for “ham”. This seems to be his favorite food right now so I will be bringing some frozen “preacher ham” along for him.
Spaghetti was my favorite food when I was a child. Long uncut spaghetti which was not eaten in a mannerly way…I think some slurping was involved! I hope your allergy test reports are good ones!
Thanks, Sandra! Please say hello to everyone for us. Glad the ham was such a big hit with the boys.
If you make this meatball recipe, just omit the flax meal and throw in an egg instead.
Hi Heddi!
We have spaghetti and meatballs every Tuesday as our family meal. For us, the recipe is easy:
ground meat
panko (most panko is dairy / egg free)
pulverized vegetables (broccoli, carrots, red pepper)
onion and garlic (or if I’m lazy, onion and garlic powders)
vegetable stock or tomato sauce to bind it all together instead of egg
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
We all love these and the kids get extra veggies without even knowing.
Glad to hear you got good test results from the allergist. We’re at the same place — still allergic but less so than before. We’ll get there.
Miss you here in the States but hope you are really enjoying Switzerland!
-Danielle
Hi Danielle! Thanks for sharing your recipe. It’s hard to find panko here, but that’s what I used in the U.S. I will try throwing more veggies in my meatballs. My older son loves them, but his younger brother does not. I’ll try the tomato sauce/veggie broth too. It’s so helpful sharing info like this, so thanks again. Very much appreciated.