spaghetti and meatballs

(photo courtesy of bonappetit.com)


In my half Italian-American family we always ate spaghetti and meatballs on Sundays. It was my dad's favorite and my mom learned hers from her Italian relatives, of course. They hailed from the South of Italy so it was similar to this recipe- a smooth and velvety red sauce that drenches the pasta and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. It's not super complicated, it's not fussy, and it might not even be considered real Italian by some, but rather the kind of hybrid dish synonymous with Italian immigrants in America and served all over in "Italian" restaurants. But those are usually not that good. This one, I can attest, is really, really good.

It's not often that I lift a recipe, word for word, from a magazine and make it in my kitchen and then post about it. Granted, I read food magazines a lot and like to try out new recipes all the time. I usually like to tweak them, however, to fit my tastes, or combine several recipes, or sometimes just use something I see for inspiration and create something totally new.

But this one was so good and so perfect just the way it is, I had no need to change it and really just wanted to share it with everyone. You need to make this spaghetti and meatballs recipe. Now. I don't care if you've been making the same 'gravy' and meatballs your mom or your nonna have made for the last 40 years. I don't care if you make a sauce that simmers all day on the stove because you think that makes it taste better. And I don't care how many pasta sauces you've perfected over the last twenty years of traveling to Italy (that last one was for me).

This sauce and these meatballs are perfection on a Sunday afternoon in the fall when you have other things to do besides slave over the stove. It's quick, it's easy and it is so deliciously satisfying. Serve it to your family, to your neighbors, make it for your dinner share or your kid's birthday. This recipe is so family-friendly (I can't believe I'm writing that, but hey, I'm starting to think that way now, I can't help it). Besides, it's Molly Wizenberg's from her "Cooking Life" column, which I love, and she knows a thing or two about comfort food.

And for me to go all Italian-American on you like this is really unheard of. So take advantage of my light-hearted and forgiving mood and get over to bonappetit.com --or even better, buy this month's magazine so you can have it forever-- and MAKE THIS RECIPE!

two end-of-summer salads and a dessert

This summer seems to have blown right by me. Granted, being pregnant and then having a baby at the beginning of it could possibly be the reason. But still, life seems to be just getting back to some sort of new normal and the season is about to change. I've missed out on some cooking! I have to say, though, that the record heat and humidity we've had in the South makes me long for the cool evenings and brisk morning temperatures of Fall, which is just around the corner.

On the other hand, I am still loving the tastes of late summer, like fresh farmer's market peaches and juicy watermelon. I recently made two delicious salads and a last-minute easy dessert that were some of the best things we've eaten lately.

The first salad is a black-eyed pea and butter bean salad, inspired by one I saw in the September issue of Food and Wine which is devoted to Southern food. I live in the South and I have experimented with black-eyed peas only one other time and that was for the traditional Hoppin' John New Years dish. It was okay, but I still didn't love them. This salad, however, made me a convert.

I had been given a mixed bag of butter beans and black-eyed peas last year by a sweet old neighbor friend. She often comes over unannounced bearing gifts from her garden which she knows I appreciate. This, however, was one that I threw into the freezer, not knowing what to do with these two staples of the Southern pantry but too embarrassed to tell her. A few weeks ago, I pulled them out and made this salad.


black-eyed pea salad

It was created by Atlanta chef Kevin Gillespie in a feature on meatless dishes. Here is the recipe. I pretty much stuck to it and it was delicious. Initially, I didn't want to take the time to cook the ingredients in the salad first, like roasting the peppers and sauteeing the onions and celery. It seemed like too much work for a salad. But the flavors of cooked vegetables are so much more interesting and really deepen the notes in this dish that ended up being more like a main than a salad.


peach-watermelon salad

The second salad I just made up and it was so yummy, on its own for lunch, or alongside grilled chicken or steak for dinner. It combines the sweet and salty flavors of peaches, watermelon, mozzarella and herbs. In addition to the fruit, I added a little lime juice, some fresh herbs like parsley and basil, a little olive oil and some honey drizzled over the top. I may have also added some heat in the form of one diced jalapeno at the last minute. YUM. I will make this one again to bring to an outdoor party or cook-out. It was so easy but also satisfying and complex.


individual peach cobblers

And lastly, this is something I came up with in a last-minute dessert craving after some meal I don't even remember. I had two peaches lying around so I peeled, cored and sliced them and tossed them in a bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, a tablespoon of cornstarch, some sugar, the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of salt. Can you see where I'm going with this? I then pulled out some little frozen tea biscuits that someone else had purchased because I always make my own (ha ha), spooned the peach mixture into 3 ramekins, placed two biscuits on top of each and sprinkled raw sugar on top. Baked in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes, they came out looking fabulous and, with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, tasted even better.