Many people are concerned these days to ensure that they are getting enough protein. Apart from the more commonly known sources of protein like beans, lentils, meat, and eggs, another great source of protein is spaghetti. Regular dry packet spaghetti can contain up to 15 grams of protein per serve, so it’s well worth checking protein contents on packets next time you are at the supermarket.
Sometimes we can overestimate how much spaghetti we need to cook and end up with leftovers. The following recipe includes leftover spaghetti in a traditional meatball dish.
Meatball Ingredients:
500gms of mince – this can be the new vegetable mince available at some larger supermarkets, beef or pork mince, or chicken mince or turkey mince.
1 cup of cold left-over spaghetti sliced into ½cm pieces
2 tsps dried thyme
1 egg/egg substitute
2 dashes of salt and pepper
A clove or two of fined chopped garlic
Meatball sauce:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 500gm bottle of your favourite pasta sauce
1 small bottle of tomato-based pesto
Half a bunch of fresh basil
Method:
• In a large bowl mix, thoroughly mix all your meatball ingredients together. Cover and place in the fridge for an hour to allow the ingredients to marinade and firm up.
• Using a large frypan, pour in the olive oil, and turn the hob onto medium high.
• Taking the meatball mixture out of the fridge, uncover, and wet your hands.
• Shape the mixture into little meatballs and gently fry until cooked (we did this in two batches).
• Turn down the heat and add the two jars of pre-prepared sauce and stir. We pour a little water in the jars, shake them about, and add remainder to the frypan just so we can get every lovely skerrick out.
• Serve in bowls topped generously with fresh basil leaves.
