Now that it’s almost September and the weather has cooled down a bit, I’m already anxious for fall weather. To me, the fall season makes me want to dig into comfort food, bake up treats to work my oven and just start using seasonal ingredients. One of our favorite comfort foods is spaghetti and meatballs. My boys had requested it recently but to give it a different spin, I served them some special meatballs. These Ricotta Meatballs made with both ground beef and ground pork were packed with flavor from sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and garlic with a tender texture thanks to ricotta cheese. I’ve never seen my boys polish off their spaghetti and meatballs like they did when this was served!…
I love experimenting with meatballs because they’re a great way to incorporate popular flavor combinations. Tomatoes and basil are always a classic pair so I combined sun dried tomatoes (not in oil) with some fresh basil from my potted plant. The flavor really came through and I loved how the ricotta made the meatballs so fork tender. They were slightly delicate while cooking with the amount of mix-ins but they came out perfectly and held their shape.
A bit of a warning… you’ll definitely want to have extra meatballs on hand. These were fantastic with spaghetti, but they are also delicious in meatball subs. We stuffed our extra meatballs into sub rolls, topped with extra marinara sauce and a nice dose of shredded mozzarella cheese as a delicious way to use the leftovers.
Yield: 4-6Author: Joelen; recipe adapted from Cooking Light
Instant Pot: Ricotta Meatballs
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
- 1 cup panko or GF breadcrumbs
- 2/3 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- 8 ounces ground sirloin (90% lean)
- 8 ounces ground pork
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1/4 cup diced sun dried tomatoes (not in oil)
- 1/4 cup diced fresh basil leaves
- Cooking spray
- 1 (24 oz) jar marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
- 4 1/2 cups beef broth, low sodium
- 1 pound dried spaghetti
- Small basil leaves (optional)
Instructions:
- Plug in the IP with insert set in place.
- In a large bowl, combine Pecorino Romano, panko, ricotta, ground sirloin, ground pork, eggs, garlic, sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil. Shape mixture into 16 (1-inch) meatballs.
- Press SAUTE on the IP and add 2 tablespoons oil.
- In batches (depending on the size of your IP), lightly brown meatballs.
- Once all meatballs have been browned, break the spaghetti in half and place over the meatballs
- Add the marinara sauce and broth to the IP, pressing the spaghetti down to completely cover with liquid.
- Secure the lid of the IP and ensure the valve is set to SEALING.
- Press SAUTE and adjust the time to 7 minutes on HIGH pressure.
- The display will reflect ON while the IP comes to pressure. Allow a few minutes for your IP to come to pressure.
- Once at pressure, the display will reflect 7 (the number of minutes you initially set) and will begin to countdown to 0 minutes.
- When the IP beeps after pressuring cooking for 7 minutes, turn the setting on top of your IP to VENTING. Doing so allows the IP to quickly release any remaining pressure (also known as QPR or QR.) I use a wooden spoon to carefully turn the setting to avoid close contact with the potential steam. You may also want to turn your IP from cabinets to allow the released steam to escape freely. The pin at the top of your IP will drop when all pressure has been released and it’s safe to open.
- Open up your IP when the pin has dropped (allow a few minutes for this to happen).
- Stir the pasta well. To serve, divide pasta into bowls, top with meatballs and garnish with more Pecorino Romano and/or fresh basil if desired.
Created using The Recipes Generator
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