On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese…
I hope I’m not the only one who gets that song stuck in my head when eating noodles and with meatballs!
I love this recipe because it’s super easy to put together and packs in a lot of flavour. At the same time, it still feels relatively light since the regular pasta noodles are replaced with zucchini.
That being said, you could definitely replace the zoodles with whatever type of noodle you are craving in the moment! Sweet potato, carrot, or butternut squash would all go well, and of course you can always just make regular pasta.
This reheats well, so go ahead and make extras to have for lunch the next day!
Italian Herb Meatballs with Zoodles
Meatballs:
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500g (1.1 lb) ground pork
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15mL (1 tbsp) parsley
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15mL (1 tbsp) basil
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10mL (2 tsp) oregano
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5mL (1 tsp) garlic powder
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pinch each of sea salt, pepper, paprika
Sauce:
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2 small onions, diced
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2 garlic cloves, minced
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500mL (2 cups) tomato puree
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15mL (1 tbsp) olive oil
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5mL (1 tsp) oregano
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5mL (1 tsp) parsley
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5mL (1 tsp) basil
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sea salt & pepper to taste
Noodles:
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3 zucchini’s, spiralized into noodles
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15mL (1 tbsp) olive oil
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pinch of sea salt
Begin by chopping onions & garlic, and spiralizing the zucchinis.
In a medium sized bowl, mix together all meatball ingredients (it’s easiest to use your hands!). Roll into golf ball sized meatballs; recipe should yield around 16 balls. Set aside.
Warm the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add in onions and garlic and sauté until onions are soft.
Push onions & garlic to the sides of the pan and place in the meatballs.
Cook meatballs for roughly 12 minutes, rotating the meatballs every 3 minutes so all sides cook evenly.
Add the tomato puree and all remaining sauce seasonings to the pan, and stir to combine with meatballs, onions, and garlic. Simmer on low heat while you cook the noodles.
In a second frying pan, warm the olive oil and add in the zucchini noodles. Sauté for around 5 minutes, tossing the noodles regularly to cook evenly. Noodles should be soft, but still firm (not mushy!)*
Plate up! Make a nest with the noodles on your plate and top with meatballs and sauce. Enjoy!
* Alternatively, you can cook the noodles directly in the pan with the sauce (if your pan is big enough). The noodles will still release some moisture, so you may end up with a thinner sauce.
Serves 4
