‘Mario Batali’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Easy to assemble meatballs that are tender, flavorful … and everything they should be. Have Sunday Supper any day of the week.

Last week was a little touch ‘o crazy. Between dentist appointments, cheer, and Girl Scouts, followed by technology and leadership meetings for Nick, dinner all week largely felt like an after-thought. Like we were grabbing something on the fly and just not connecting the way we should. The way I needed to. The way families need to.

So while the kids were with their Dad this weekend, I made plans for a nice, peaceful meal with them upon their return on Sunday, going all out. Clearing off the dining room table from the massive amounts of Girl Scout paperwork, and frames and photos from a project I’m working on. Setting the table with place mats, napkins, and nice dishes. Turning on an iTunes playlist for some nice background music.

And cooking.

I left Sunday afternoon open for just this purpose. To cook.

I knew I wanted to make something Italian, because I feel I don’t do that often enough.

#ItalianMomguilt

And when I spied a new meatball recipe from Mario Batali, the plan quickly came together.

Meatballs with red wine-infused marinara sauce.

A side of whole wheat tortellini.

Brownies for dessert.

As soon as the kids walked in, they headed straight for the kitchen.

“Mealballs? Awesome! Who’s coming for dinner?”

Surely not helping with the #Momguilt.

But the end result was exactly what I wanted.

A nice meal at home, together. Talking about our weekend. Savoring a home-cooked meal. And thoroughly enjoying the moment.

The meatballs come together quickly, and by using ground turkey, instead of the usual ground beef, they are slightly healthier. Even more so once I swapped out the regular bread crumbs for whole wheat bread crumbs. Once the meatballs are formed, they head for the oven, so no frying in oil either. The marinara sauce is flavored with red wine and garlic, and, well, you can only go up from there. The flavors all come together during its one hour in the oven, and it made for a perfect Sunday supper.

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She’s an award-winning actress.

She’s a singer.

She’s a movie star.

She’s married to Chris Martin from Coldplay.

She has two beautiful kids.

She has her own popular newsletter, GOOP.

She’s gorgeous.

She counts Mario Batali amongst her BFF circle.

And now she’s a cook too?!

With her own cookbook?

You want to hate her. But you just can’t.

Gwyneth Paltrow is gracing the cover of the June issue of Bon Appetit magazine, featuring a few recipes from her new cookbook. Her Roasted Tomato and Anchovy Oreganata Pasta hit the dinner table tonight. You have to plan ahead for this one, folks. The tomatoes are cooked two different ways. One of which takes 3-8 hours. Then there is the oreganata that you have to make. Then cooking the pasta. Then adding it all together. It is a little time consuming. Although the end result is really simple fare, I didn’t want to like it. But I did. And then some. The roasted tomatoes are so to-die-for good that I want to tell you to roast twice the amount the recipe calls for. Because if you’re like me, and I’m hoping you are, you might sneak far too many during the rest of the recipe’s prep time. And you’ll want more for the recipe. And later. Or in between. So yeah, roast more than you need. And plan ahead to make this recipe. You’ll thank me, and Gwyneth later.

PS – For more of her recipe, check out this link from Bon Appetit’s article.

June 21, 2011 – Bonus Photo

I wish I could do something to make her happy. She always looks so darn miserable, no? And I wish she’d stop stealing my (new!) sunglasses!

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Read More

Recipe: Italian-Style Turkey Meatballs

Recipe: Gwyneth Paltrow’s Roasted Tomato and Anchovy Oreganata Pasta