Italian Spinach Meatballs with Farfalle

Adapted from The Skinny Taste.

Cooking these meatballs was a bit of a feat for us; we were pleased with how they turned out. If you have the patience, you can whip up this great meal, too! Since we were only cooking for two, we'll have meatballs left over for the rest of the week.

Ingredients:

Meatballs

• 1 lb 93% lean ground beef, chopped
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained of all liquid
• 2 slices whole wheat bread
• 1 large egg
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
• Salt and pepper

Tomato Sauce

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 onion
• Salt and pepper

Pasta

• 12 oz farfalle or pasta of choice
• Cook al dente, according to package directions

Directions:

Moisten bread and mash with hands. In a large bowl, combine bread with beef, spinach, egg, garlic, parsley, Parmesan, salt and pepper. Mix well. Scoop 1/4 cup of meat from bowl and split into two, making two small balls.

Heat olive oil on medium in a large pot. Once warm add garlic, heat until golden brown. Then add tomatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Cover and reduce to low heat.

While the sauce is cooking, heat 1 tbsp olive oil on low in large skillet. Once warm, place meatballs on the skillet and cook on low until browned. Make sure they cook all the way through. When meatballs are cooked, roll on a paper towel to absorb extra oil. Place these meatballs into pot with sauce, and do the same for the rest of the meatballs. Once you have placed all of the meatballs into the sauce, leave on low heat for another 20 minutes. Cut onion into quarters and serve with meatballs over pasta.

Yield: 6 servings