This recipe is absolute GENIUS. It was a genius idea for me to make it on Super Bowl Sunday too. I am usually cooking while my family is watching the game- and commercials- in another room. This year, the meal was cooked and ready to go; it was kept warm in the pressure cooker with the lid in place while I was sitting on the sofa with everyone. 🙂
This recipe was adapted from The New York Times, contributed by Melissa Clark. I increased the garlic and used ground turkey and whole wheat spaghetti. I also made it in my stove top pressure cooker instead of an Instant Pot. We enjoyed it with garlic bread and Caesar salad. Great.
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
For the Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2-4 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 basil sprigs, plus more thinly sliced for serving
- 8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti (not thin spaghetti), broken in half
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
- 1 cup ricotta (optional)
For the Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground turkey (or substitute veal, pork or beef)
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a stove top pressure cooker or Instant Pot on sauté. Stir in garlic, red pepper and black pepper, and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Stir in tomatoes, salt and basil sprigs; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the meatballs: In a large bowl, mix together ground meat, bread crumbs, Parmesan, chopped basil, egg, salt and garlic. Roll into 1 1/4-inch balls. (I used a large cookie scoop and placed them on a large plate, shaping them into balls when I placed them into the pot.)
- Pour 1 cup water into sauce in pot, scraping up any browned bits on bottom of pot.
- Scatter uncooked spaghetti over the sauce.
- Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon oil over spaghetti, stirring gently (try to keep the spaghetti on top of the sauce), then top with meatballs.
- Cover and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Manually release the pressure, then remove the cover and stir to separate the spaghetti.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons Parmesan.
- At this point, the pasta will be almost but not quite cooked through. Place the top back on the pressure cooker (loosely) and let it sit for 3 to 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and spaghetti is al dente but not mushy.
- Serve dolloped with ricotta, if using, and sprinkled with thinly sliced basil and more Parmesan if you like.
thebrookcook 