Scratch Spaghetti Os with Meatballs

With tiny Italian sausage meatballs and anelli pasta in a rich tomato sauce, these scratch Spaghetti Os are so much better than what you can buy in the can! 

When I was a kid, the Spaghetti Os with meatballs were a treat. (You can buy them without meatballs, but why would you?!) I don’t recall that my mom bought them very often because Hamburger Helper made a meal for the whole family and that can of pasta served pretty much one of us.

The Spaghetti Os slogan was "the neat round spaghetti you can eat with a spoon" and which child didn't want that? It was a favorite for sure. If you grew up outside the US, you might know these as Heinz spaghetti hoops which unfortunately never came with meatballs. 

Fast forward a bunch of years and the only time I really bought Spaghetti Os for my girls was when we had a long flight on our itinerary. When we were living in Paris, a friend took the six-hour flight back to D.C. with her infant and toddler and the elevator that was supposed to bring the food up from the hold for serving malfunctioned. 

Desperate parents of small hungry (crying!) children were beside themselves with no help in sight. Finally, the beleaguered flight attendants served the cold sandwiches that were put on board for the final meal before landing. The restless hoard was fed but this story taught us all a lesson. Do not board a plane with children without also laying in supplies!

 

After that, I not only packed snacky things, but also the small pots (with the pull-off lids) of Spaghetti Os and Mac and Cheese. Sure, they were supposed to be heated in a microwave prior to consumption but hungry girls will eat them at room temperature as well and with relish. 

Scratch Spaghetti Os

For the meatballs, I use fresh hot Italian sausage for the flavor it adds to the sauce. If you prefer, you can use your favorite meatball recipe. When I don’t use sausage meat, this is mine. 

Ingredients

Olive oil

4 cloves  garlic

5 medium ripe red tomatoes

3 oz or 85g tomato paste (half the small can or tin)

3 1/4 cups or just shy of 3/4 liter chicken stock (fresh or made with cubes – either would work)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Black pepper

1 lb or 450g pasta rings aka anelli or anelletti

1 1/4 lbs Italian sausage, pinched off into small pieces and rolled into tiny balls, like this!

Optional to serve: Grated Parmesan and a sprinkle of chopped parsley

Method

Preheat oven  to 400°F or 200°C. Put the meatballs in a baking pan single file and separated so they will cook evenly. Bake the meatballs for about 10 minutes then turn to broil for a further 5-7 minutes to brown the tops. You want them quite dark so that they will add flavor to the sauce as they simmer in it later. That is a teaspoon to give you an idea of how small you want the meatballs to be.

Remove the pan from the oven and leave to cool tilted a bit to one side so any grease that baked off the meatballs can be easily removed. 

Pour the oil off and then add a little of the hot stock to the pan so you can scrape up the lovely browned bits stuck there and add them to your stock. Use the spatula to get every bit off. 

Peel and chop the garlic finely. 

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add in the chopped garlic and let it fry over a low fire for just a few minutes, until it softens slightly. You don’t want it to brown, which makes garlic bitter.

Meanwhile, halve your tomatoes and remove the core and seeds.  Chop the tomato into small pieces. 

Add the chopped tomatoes to the garlic and give the pot a quick stir. Cook over a medium heat for about 5-7 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to soften and the juice starts to come out of them a little. 

Add the stock, the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, a few good grinds of fresh black pepper and the tomato paste to the pot.

Cook for 20 minutes on a low to medium heat.  

Meanwhile, as the sauce simmers, cook your pasta rings according to package instructions, for about 2 minutes before it would be al dente. (My package said 15-17 minutes for al dente, so I drained them at 13 minutes.) Drain the pasta and reserve a half cup or 120ml of the pasta water. 

Take the pan of sauce off of the stove and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Carefully puree the soup in a blender or with a hand blender straight in the pot until completely smooth. Do not splash and burn yourself! Add the sauce back to the pot and then add in the meatballs. Simmer uncovered for about 10-15 minutes. 

When you are about ready to serve, stir in the cooked pasta rings and cook for about 2 minutes for pasta to reach al dente. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water. Serve immediately!

 

Since we are making scratch Spaghetti Os, feel free to serve them with freshly grated Parmesan. This is better than your childhood favorite and deserves a sprinkle of cheese and chopped parsley.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and at my instigation, my fellow bloggers are sharing recipes for homemade dishes that they loved from their childhood. Check out the links!

• Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles
• Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime
• Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Meat Chilly Fry by Sneha's Recipe
• Meatballs with Mushroom Gravy from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Mum's Buitoni from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Scratch Spaghetti Os with Meatballs from Food Lust People Love

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Spicy Shrimp and Citrus Salad

This Spicy Shrimp and Citrus Salad is tasty and fresh with an Asian-influenced dressing for the salad and garlic chili oil marinade for the shrimp. 

These days at our house, we are on a rota, taking turns making dinner each night. It started when I was out of town for a family emergency and my husband and younger daughter started taking turns cooking. “Ah,” I said from up north, quoting a line from one of our favorite movies, Liar, Liar, “My plan to phase myself out is almost complete!” (Always joking, of course! I ain’t going nowhere.)

When I got home again, they slotted me into the program and now we each cook every third day. This spicy shrimp and citrus salad was dinner on my last turn, two days ago. This served three of us comfortably for dinner with some leftovers. 

Spicy Shrimp and Citrus Salad

If you don’t have the little Cuties I used here feel free to substitute larger oranges and cut the pegs into smaller pieces. I must confess that I used just a bit more shrimp for my salad because mine were headless and cleaned but unpeeled and I didn’t know what the peeled weight would be. Headless cleaned but not peeled they weighed 1 1/2 lbs or 675g. After peeling, I started this recipe with 17 oz or 484g uncooked shrimp. My motto regarding shrimp is always the more, the better. If you've got 1 lb or 450g of peeled uncooked shrimp, it's all good.

Ingredients

For the shrimp:

2 tablespoons Chiu Chow Style Chili Oil (garlic chili oil)

1 lb or 450g peeled, deveined large shrimp 

For the salad dressing:

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, smashed and chopped

3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar

3 tablespoons canola or other light oil

3 tablespoons lower sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon honey

For the salad:

2 short romaine lettuces, roughly torn

4 clementines, peeled and separated into pegs

2 green onions, cut in 1/2 in or 1cm lengths

5-6 small radishes, sliced thinly

White and/or black sesame seeds, for serving

Method

Give the garlic chili oil jar a really good shake then add two tablespoons to the shrimp and stir well to coat. Refrigerate until ready to cook. 

In a clean jar, shake together the grated ginger and garlic with the rice vinegar. Set aside for a few minutes. Add in the canola, soy sauce, sesame oil and honey. Close the jar tightly and give it a good shake to combine. Chill until you are ready to serve the salad. 

Heat a large skillet over a high heat for a few minutes. Tip in the marinated shrimp and push them around until they are in a single layer. 

Cook on the first side until they brown just a little then turn the shrimp over to cook the other side. Remove the shrimp to a plate to cool. If you’ve done this ahead and aren’t serving the salad imminently, cover the shrimp with cling film and chill.  

To assemble the salad, rip the lettuce into bite-sized pieces on a large platter. 

Top with the shrimp, sliced radishes, clementine pegs and green onion. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

Give the jar of dressing another sustained shake. If you are confident that your group will finish the salad in one sitting, spoon it over the salad plate. If not, allow each person to serve their salad and spoon dressing over each plate. 

Enjoy! 

It's time for my Fish Friday Foodies to share their recipes for seafood in salads! Check them out below. 

• Avocado and Shrimp Chopped Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Mediterranean Avocado Salmon Salad from Making Miracles
• Prawn 65 With Couscous & Braised Veggies Salad from Sneha's Recipe
• Salade Niçoise from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Shrimp Salad on Toast Points from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Soft Shell Crab & Shrimp in Quinoa Salad from Of Goats and Greens
• Spicy Shrimp and Citrus Salad from Food Lust People Love
• The Polarizing Anchovy + Egg Salad Niçoise from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Are you a food blogger who would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas. 

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Snickers Bundt Cake #BundtBakers

This Snickers Bundt Cake is rich and super chocolate-y with a tender crumb. The Snickers pieces sink to the bottom of the pan while baking which means the top of the cake is full of them! Pour yourself a cold glass of milk and enjoy a large slice!

This month our Bundt Bakers host is Patricia from PatyCo Candy Bar and since May is the month we celebrate mothers, she encouraged us to use Mom’s favorite candy bar as inspiration or an ingredient to bake our Bundts. What a lovely idea!

I sent my mom a quick text, “What’s your favorite candy bar?” fully expecting her to say Heavenly Hash, a marshmallow confection with almonds, covered in chocolate. Honestly it’s the only candy bar I can ever recall her eating. Since the Elmer's brand (her favorite) are only available during the Easter season (and in Louisiana - where they are made) Mom usually has a supply in the deep freezer for when a craving comes on the rest of the year. 

You are probably ahead of me here since I’ve named this post Snickers Bundt Cake. That was indeed her surprising response. 

Snickers Bundt Cake

If you search “Snickers Cake” there are all sorts of recipes online but I kept this simple, making a devil’s food cake batter and just adding Snickers to that. It got several thumbs-up from family and friends. 

Ingredients

2 cups or 250g flour

2 cups or 400g sugar

3/4 cup or 90g natural unsweetened cocoa powder 

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup or 240ml canola or other light oil

1 cup or 240ml milk

1 cup or 240ml coffee - cooled but not cold

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

12 mini Snickers bars (3 1/2 oz or 100g by weight if you are cutting up larger bars) plus extra to decorate if desired

Method

Preheat oven to 375˚F or 190°C. Thoroughly grease a 10” Bundt pan and coat it with cocoa.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut the mini Snickers into six pieces each.

 

Add them to the dry ingredients and stir to coat so that they don’t stick together.

In a separate large bowl add the oil, milk, coffee, eggs and vanilla. Whisk to create a rich batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Fold until well combined.

Pour the cake batter into your prepared pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Leave the cake to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan and then run your skewer around the outside and middle of the cake to loosen it. Turn it over onto a wire rack to continue cooling. 

If you are using Snickers to decorate the edge of the cake, cut the mini Snickers in three slices, like a loaf of bread and put them around the outside. Ideally do this when the cake is still a bit warm. The Snicker pieces will start to melt slightly. As they do, press them into the cake so they’ll stick. 

Leave to cool completely before cutting in slices to serve. 

Enjoy! 

Check out all the wonderful candy bar Bundt cakes! Many thanks to our host, Patricia 

• Almond Joy Inspired Bundt Cake from Magical Ingredients
• Coconut Slice Bundt from Sweet Sensations
• Hershey's Chocolate Almond Bar Bundt from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hershey's Cookies'n'Creme Bundt Cake from Patyco Candybar
• Nuggle Mini Bundt Cakes from Passion Kneaded
• Snickers Bundt Cake from Food Lust People Love
  
  

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

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Italian Sausage and Chicken Ragù - Instant Pot

This Italian Sausage and Chicken Ragù is not only delicious stirred through with a fresh herby ricotta, thanks to the Instant Pot, it is also quick enough for a weeknight meal. 

I honestly don’t know what took me so long to start using my Instant Pot. As I’ve mentioned before, it took a kitchen renovation to motivated me but, boy, howdy, do I love that thing now!

Anytime I see a slow cooker recipe that starts out by sautéing or browning something in a pan on the stove first, I think, HA. I can make that in the Instant Pot and skip the stove step. And I usually do. 

For anyone unfamiliar with the term ragù, it's just a fancy (Italian) way of saying meat sauce. Merriam-Webster defines ragù as "a hearty, seasoned Italian sauce of meat and tomatoes that is used chiefly in pasta dishes and that is typically made with ground beef, tomatoes, and finely chopped onions, celery, and carrots."

Italian Sausage and Chicken Ragù with Herby Ricotta

This recipe is adapted from a slow cooker one in the New York Times cooking section. The original took six hours to cook and contains only chicken. I highly recommend the addition of the hot Italian sausage to this dish you will make and serve in less than 30 minutes in your Instant Pot.

Ingredients

For the ragù:

19 oz or 538g hot Italian sausage

1 small carrot

1 small yellow or purple onion 

4 cloves garlic

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 10 oz or 290g each)

1 can (14.5 oz or 411g) crushed or diced tomatoes 

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)

1 sprig fresh oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)

1 ½ teaspoons red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the herbed ricotta topping: 

1 cup or 250g whole-milk ricotta

Heaping 1/4 cup chopped soft fresh herbs, such as chives, oregano, parsley or basil, or a mix

zest 1 medium lemon

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

To serve:

10 oz or 285g tagliatelle, fettuccine, linguine or other long, thick pasta, cooked al dente according to package instructions.

Method

Peel and chop the carrot, onion and garlic. 

Remove the casings from the Italian sausage and put it in the Instant Pot on sauté. Cook for several minutes using a wooden spoon to break the sausage into crumbles as it browns. 

Add in the carrot, onion and garlic. Sauté, stirring often, for a few minutes more until the vegetables soften. 

Nestle the chicken breasts into the sausage and vegetables. 

Top with the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, thyme, oregano, crushed red pepper and a sprinkle of fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Secure the lid on the Instant Pot and set it manually to 9 minutes. 

When the time is up, safely release the pressure. Remove and discard the herb sprigs.

Transfer the chicken breast to a cutting board and use two forks to shred the chicken then return it to the Instant Pot and stir well. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente. 

While the pasta cooks, chop your herbs and combine them in a small bowl with the ricotta, lemon zest, balsamic vinegar and salt. 

Taste the sauce, adding more red-pepper flakes, if you like, and salt if needed.

Divide the pasta among bowls. Top with ragu and a good spoon of the herby ricotta. 

Enjoy! 

It’s MultiCooker Monday! Check out the variety of small appliance recipes my friends are sharing today. Many thanks to our host and organizer, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Meringue Kisses in Toaster Oven from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken from Making Miracles
• Beef Barbacoa Tacos from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Italian Sausage and Chicken Ragu - Instant Pot from Food Lust People Love
• Ropa Vieja in the Slow Cooker from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• How to Cook Jowar/Sorghum in Instant Pot from Magical Ingredients

                                                         

Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group. 

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Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta

This Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta is a flavorful one-pot meal that the whole family will love. Dish it up and sprinkle on the feta!

Today my Sunday FunDay friends are sharing recipes made with ingredients that add umami, the fifth taste our taste buds detect. It is usually associated with meat, seafood, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese so this dish has umami to spare with chorizo, tomatoes and feta.

Make sure to scroll down to see the links to the other umami-rich recipes. 

Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta

My can of tomatoes were fire-roasted (hence the specks of black in the photo of the simmering pot) but any crushed tomatoes will do. This recipe is adapted from Delicious.co.uk.  I'm not a fan of the dill in the original and just happened to have some chorizo in the refrigerator. If you do not or if you want to make this vegetarian, substitute some lovely oil-cured olives, which add loads of umami as well. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 oz Spanish-style chorizo

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus extra to serve

1 1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

7 1/2 oz or 215g ditalini or other small pasta shape

14.5 oz or 411g can crushed tomatoes

15 oz or 425g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 cups or 480ml chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Fine sea salt to taste

For topping:

3 1/2 oz or 100g feta, crumbled

crushed red pepper

Optional for garnish: parsley 

Method

Finely dice the onion and garlic and cut the chorizo into small cubes. 

Heat the oil in a deep pot and add the cubed chorizo and fry for a few minutes which will release the gorgeous red oil. Add in the onion and garlic. Sauté gently for 6-8 minutes until softened but not colored.

Turn up the heat slightly, and make a little space in the middle of the pan. Pour the mustard seeds in the space and sprinkle the crushed red pepper over the chorizo and vegetables. Fry for 1-2 minutes more until the mustards seeds begin to pop. 

Pour in the pasta and stir to coat.  

Add the tomatoes, stock and chickpeas. 

Give the whole thing a good stir. 

Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce has thickened and the pasta is tender. 

Add in the baking soda and stir well. 

It will bubble up as the soda neutralizes some of the acid in the tomato sauce. This is a secret I learned from an Italian-American nonna and I use it every time I make tomato sauce of any kind. It makes the sauce a little bit sweeter.

Season with salt to taste but keep in mind that feta can be quite salty and you will be stirring some through to serve. 

Serve in bowls sprinkled with feta and more crushed red pepper and parsley, if desired.  

Enjoy! 

Need more recipes with umami? Click on the links below! Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime.

• Umami Bomb Tomato Sauce from Making Miracles
• Steaks with Gouda Sauce from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cucumber Kimchi Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta from Food Lust People Love
• Fried Chicken Wings - Korean Style from Sneha's Recipe
• Umami from the Sea: Sea Palm-Kale Salad and Uni Handrolls from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Patatas Bravas from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Easy Vegan Pad Thai from Cook with Renu

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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