OmNomNom: Tortellini and Meatballs

So I've been posting some of my latest taste creations on Instagram, which then goes to my Facebook page, but it got me thinking...why not share how I got to that deliciousness? So at least once per week I'm going to try to remember to post a recipe for said noms here. By the way, I uh...measure like my Abuela did most of the time, so if you're OCD and want to figure out exact amounts of things, you're gonna want to go somewhere else. You've been warned....

Tortellini and Meatballs

Serves 2 with leftover meatballs for the freezer!

Meatballs:

1 lb Ground Beef

1 Tbs or so Coconut Flour

1 Tbs or so Almond Meal/Almond Flour

2 pinches Salt

3 pinches Essence of Emeril Spice Mix 

(you can make your own, but that's later)

a handful of Shredded Parmesan

Sauce:

1 - 1 1/2 c. Tomato Sauce 

Garlic Powder, Onion Salt

Misc. diced veggies: up to you, but I like Green Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, and Mushrooms

Premade Tortellini- I HIGHLY recommend Buitoni since it always turns out exactly the same. This time I used the Roasted Garlic and Cheese Tortellini. Mmmm....

Combine all the stuff for your meatballs and pinch off some about the size of a walnut for each of the meatballs. This doesn't have to be perfect, it's food. You're just going to nosh on it not display it in the Louvre. You'll want to cook them before putting them in the sauce, so you can either bake them (boring!) OR you can saute them with a spoonful of bacon grease. Just stick the lid on and roll them around every couple of minutes till they're done, it will likely take about 10 minutes or so. Then you can just scooch the lid over a bit and drain the fat off into a can or the dog's food or wherever you put meat grease. 

Now on to the sauce... ok, so once the meatballs are done, just leave them in the pan and pour over some tomato sauce. You know if you like a lot or a little sauce with your pasta, so just do it that way. Don't worry if there were bits of meat stuck to the bottom of the pan, you're going to scrape them off when you stir the sauce and they'll add a nice layer of flavor to everything too. Dice up some veggies if you haven't already and throw them in- the harder ones like peppers for a minute or two first, then tomatoes, then easy ones like mushrooms. You're not trying to kill the veg, just cook it a bit so it's not all raw and super crunchy. While that's going you can toss on your Buitoni tortellini- and YES, I do like them that much, and NO, they're not giving me anything to say so. I just really like the pasta. It takes all of maybe 2 minutes once the water's boiling to cook just the way I like them. (Note: when they float and look puffy, they're done. Easy peasy.)

So when everything's done, just drain the pasta and fold gently into the sauce/meatballs and serve ASAP. I like mine with some mini focaccia that I found at the grocery outlet store up the road.

Nutrition Info:

Uh....no.

It tastes good and has protein and carbs and vitamins and such. If you're that worried about it just go ride a bike or run or something for like, an hour maybe, and you'll be fine. :)