"Spaghetti" and (my very own first original recipe) Portabella Mushroom, Onion, Sun Dried Tomato Meat Balls Stuffed with Goat Cheese

Whats on the menu? "Spaghetti" and (my very own first original recipe) Portabella Mushroom, Onion, Sun Dried Tomato Meat Balls Stuffed with Goat Cheese

How easy was it to make?  I have to say I was terrified! I have never in my life made meat balls... and I never make up recipes, I am a recipe following girl. Not this time! I really wanted to make meat balls and "spaghetti" and the only way to find exactly what I wanted in a meat ball was to do it myself!

So, I stopped at Hannaford (my usual Friday night shopping location) and confused the hell out of our friend J who was shopping at the same time. He was confused that he may have been in some parallel universe as he has never seen me at the grocery store. Clearly the "wrong" Cormier was shopping!! I assured him that everything was alright and I was just there to get things to make my ONE dinner of the week!

I headed home with the following:
1lb of Grass Fed Beef
2 Portabello Mushroom Caps
1 Small White Onion
Chopped Sun Dried Tomatos in Oil
Goat Cheese
Organic Tomato and Basil Sauce

Things I used that already had at home:
1 Egg
Almond Flour
Minced Garlic
Parsley/Oregano/Salt/Pepper
Spaghetti Squash

I chopped the onion, added that with the garlic, to a pan on medium heat and let it cook a bit than added the mushrooms and sun dried tomato (about half the jar with as little oil as possible and let it go till everything "looked" cooked... I am so bad at this.

After that I tossed it all into the food processor, thinking that might make it a little "smaller" for the meat balls. I added some parsley, oregano, salt and pepper to another bowl, than an egg, than the meat and against everything I ever want to do... squished it around with my hands (totally grossing myself out). I added the veggies and squished some more, than added some almond flour because it was a little wet from the oil of the veggies.

When that was all mixed I started making balls. I stuffed each one with a little piece of goat cheese and sealed the ball around it. They were pretty big. Definitely bigger than a golf ball... but hey, who dosent like big balls?! Meat balls people... get your mind out of the gutter!

After I was done I washed my hands 500 times (because really, the whole squishing raw beef iggs me the eff out) and put them in the oven at 400 degrees... for 30 minutes.

I had already cooked the spaghetti squash so it was cooling while I made these. I heated up the sauce and when Hubs got home he has his very first "Sarah Original" dinner! I was pretty proud of me!

So... how was it? Patting myself on the back here. It was fantastic. I mean come on, meat, sundried tomato, garlic and goat cheese... how could I have gone wrong! Unless of course I killed us with undercooked beef. 

Will I make it again? I have permission from Hubs... as he ate the leftovers the next day, YES, I will certainly make these again!

Pre Sauce

Post Sauce

Almond Flour Breaded Chicken

We make this quite a bit, it originated in the scallopini recipe, but we like it so much we have made it with speghetti squash and organic pasta sauce with mushrooms. You can substitute this chicken anywhere you would have breaded chicken. Its great alone or with a topping.

What you need:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/2 C almond meal

1 T dried parsley

pinch sea salt and 1 tsp. black pepper

What you do:
- Pound chicken breasts pretty thin (about 1/4 inch).
- Combine almond meal, parsley, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl.
- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.
- Dredge chicken breasts in almond flour mixture.
- Brown chicken breast in olive oil, about 5 minutes on each side.

At this point you can continue with the scallopini recipe or you ca do what we did here, serve with spaghetti squash and organic sauce.

Spaghetti Squash

I will post pictures as soon as I make one this week... havent done that yet... There are lots of methods on line how to cook Spaghetti Squash but this is the one that works best for me.

What you need:
1 Spaghetti Squash

What you do:
Preheat Oven to 375degrees
Use a long fork or knife to poke a million holes in spaghetti squash so it dosent explode

Put it in a shallow baking pan

Bake for 1 hour
Let it cool for 20 minutes
Cut both ends off

Slice long way

Scoop out the seeds and "guts" but be careful not to get too deep
Use a fork to shred the Spaghetti off the rind

Scoop onto plates and serve!


Enjoy!

Paleo Chicken Scallopini

This is one of my absolute favorites. I am a HUGE fan of lemon and capers and white wine... so its perfect! We typically make this for dinner a night during the week and take the leftovers for lunch the next day. So delish! In the picture you will see that we didnt have any mushrooms that night, so we used tomatos... I like it better with the mushrooms, but it just goes to show you that you can improvise or make substitutions if you dont like everything or have anything from a recipe.

The original recipe is here... http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2011/02/paleo-chicken-scallopini-over-spaghetti.html

What you need:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

2 T olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 C almond meal

1 T dried parsley

pinch sea salt and 1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 C sliced mushrooms

2 T capers

2 T lemon juice

1/4 C white wine (or chicken broth)

1 lemon, thinly sliced

What you do:

Pound chicken breasts pretty thin (about 1/4 inch). Combine almond meal, parsley, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Dredge chicken breasts in almond flour mixture. Brown chicken breast in olive oil, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken breasts. In same pan, add garlic and mushrooms and saute until tender (you may need to add a tad more olive oil). Add wine and deglaze pan. Stir in capers and lemon juice. Add chicken breasts back to pan. Place thinly sliced lemons over the chicken pieces, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.

We usually serve it with spaghetti squash... THIS is how I make it.