Now that's a Spicy Meatball!

Looking back on this weekend, I realize we didn't do very much in terms of getting out of the house. The main reason was that my husband just had the HD installed, so most of the weekend was spent paying homage to the television. However, since my sister was with us for the weekend, we did a lot of cooking! Our kitchen was non-stop over the weekend, just the way I like it.

My proudest achievement was in making my own homemade meatballs! Usually I just buy them pre-made at the store, but this time I decided to take a crack at the little balls of goodness myself. I combined two recipes, one I found on the back of my Parmesan bottle and the other on the back of my bread crumb jar. The good thing is that I had another weapon on my side, my husband. Mango is a product of two great culinary cultures, Cajun and Italian, combine it with my Latina-ness and you've got some great food...now I just have to learn how to cook it!

In the end, the meatballs came out awesome! I was really proud of my self and even got the nod from my husband while he was eating his bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. No more store bought for me! This was super easy to do, here's the recipe:

Mangonett's Yummy Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of ground sirloin or meat of your choice

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

2 large eggs

1/2 cup of Parmesan

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced (depends on how much garlic you like)

1/4 cup parsley

1 tablespoon olive oil

Spaghetti

1 large bottle of Prego spaghetti sauce or sauce of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a large bowl, place your meat and toss in your bread crumbs, Parmesan, eggs, garlic, and parsley.

3. Time to get dirty! With your hands, mix up the meat with all the ingredients. Make sure you knead it thoroughly.

4. Once everything is combined, start shaping your meatballs. Depending on how big you make them, you should be able to make 10-12.

5. Take a large skillet and heat up your oil. Once oil is hot, put in a couple meatballs and cook them until the outside is cooked all around the meatball (this will seal in the juices).

6. As your meatballs finish cooking, put them in a baking dish lined with foil (make sure you spray the foil with cooking spray to keep them from sticking).

7. Put meatballs in the oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.

8. Start making your pasta! Add a pinch of salt and a little bit of olive oil to your water and let boil. Slide in your pasta and let cook, stirring occasionally.

9. In a separate pan, start heating up your spaghetti sauce (make it a deep pan). Mango likes to add some red pepper flakes and a little bit of sugar to make it sweet.

10. Once your meatballs are finished, spoon your meatballs into the pan with your spaghetti sauce and let them simmer a little in the sauce. 11. Once your pasta is done, drain the water. Serve your pasta on a plate and serve your sauce and meatballs on top. Feel free to top with some Parmesan, hot sauce, whatever you like!