Portable Pasta: spaghetti and meatball bites

2014/03/21 By Melinda 14 Comments

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The Pillsbury Bake Off deadline for submissions is approaching and my brain is jumbled with ingredients haikus: limited ingredients, limited time, and an unexpected twist at the end.

Buttermilk Biscuits
and an item from list B
Million dollar wow

Last night I was standing outside watching the moon blur and sharpen with the passing clouds, the clean green scent of fresh-cut grass in the air, and all I’m thinking about is mini-muffin tins. What seven magic ingredients can I stuff into a mini muffin tin? And it came to me. Spaghetti and meatballs appetizer! I got so excited I planned the whole thing out and fell asleep with visions of meatballs dancing in my head. But then, in cold sober light of morning, I remembered that there is no pasta on list A.

So they may not be worth a million dollars but these bites make a damn fine snack and they look like food the Jetsons would eat to boot. Planetary.

And as an aside. Damn you internets, blessing and curse that you are. Time stealer, dream dasher. I was going to call these amazeballs, because of the meatball and the amazing but apparently there are a whole slew of amazing ball-shaped foods out there. Wonderball? Taken. And the more you contemplate balls the less appetizing the word ‘balls’ becomes. So I’m taking suggestions but until then I give you spaghetti and meatball bites.

Portable Pasta: spaghetti and meatball bites with sun-dried tomato and turkey meatballs

makes about 48 mini meatball bites

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Servings 48 meatballs

Ingredients

sun-dried tomato and turkey meatballs

1 lb. ground turkey
1 TBS tomato paste
1/2 cup onion finely minced or grated
1 egg
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes finely chopped softened if not packed in olive oil
1 tsp dried Italian herb blend which is where I went when I discovered there were just few leaves of fresh parsley leftor 2 tsp fresh parsley and 1 tsp fresh oregano.
salt and pepper to taste

mini meatball and spaghetti bites

3 ounces angel hair pasta cooked al dente and tossed with
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil and
1/4 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
48 mini meatballs precooked
1 cup preferred pasta sauce
48 1/2 inch slices of mozzarella cheese
1-3 cups grated parmesan or romano

Instructions

sun-dried tomato and turkey meatballs

Throughly combine all ingredients
Form into balls (about a 1/2 inch for mini meatballs)
For smaller batches I prefer to cook these with a little olive oil in my cast iron on the stove top (medium low heat about six minutes a side.) But for large batches it would be infinitely easier to bake them on a sheet pan(375 for about 20-25 minutes turning once if necessary)

mini meatball and spaghetti bites

pre heat oven to 375F
cook pasta and toss with olive oil and cheese, set aside
butter or oil the muffin tin and coat with a healthy coating of grated cheese
assemble nests of pasta- see illustration
add a small dollop of sauce, about half a tsp) if desired (see note below)
place meatball in center of nest
top with 1/2-1 tsp of sauce and fresh mozzarella
bake in pre-heated oven for about 15-20 minutes until sauce is bubbling, cheese is melted, and bottom of nests have just begun to brown

mini meatball and spaghetti bites

Reader Interactions

Comments

Patt says
2014/10/14 at 10:00 am
Doing these amazing looking meatballs for a ciccetti party (Italian tapas). Have you tried assembling a day ahead and popping in the oven just before guests arrive? Thanks…..it could be a big time saver.
Reply
- recipefiction says
  2014/10/16 at 10:27 am
  Yummm I love the idea of italian tapas! I haven’t assembled a day ahead but I have made them several hours ahead so I don’t see any reason why a day ahead would make a difference. LEt me know how the party goes!
  Reply
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Tish Calhoon says
2014/11/17 at 10:24 am
Hi….these look yummy and fun to eat! Tho i have everything to make them but i have very little cheese :/ will they stick to the noodles without it?
Reply
- recipefiction says
  2014/11/17 at 10:37 am
  Hi Tish,
  Good question. How little is very little? The cheese certainly helps as a binder but I think they would still stick together without it. Just don’t forget to toss the noodles with olive oil 😉
  Reply
  - Tish Calhoon says
    2014/11/17 at 11:08 am
    Ok i will toss them with olive oil. My muffin tins are that of bigger size (6) and i have 2 of them. Lol…not much cheese at all but i figured the cheese would be the binder, so i will just stretch it using it just to make the meatballs stick. Thank u for the recipe and the reply. Wish me luck 🙂
    Reply
    - recipefiction says
      2014/11/17 at 11:32 am
      Good luck. They’ll taste good regardless!
      Reply
Valerie says
2014/12/15 at 10:43 am
Was wondering if these could be frozen for like a week and then reheated before the party….any thoughts?
Reply
- recipefiction says
  2014/12/15 at 11:10 am
  I’ve never frozen pasta (other than Lasagne) but I’ve heard it can be done- sources say al dente is best as it can get mushy. If I was to freeze these I would make sure the noodles were well coated with olive oil and probably opt for adding a bit of sauce to the bottom of the muffin cups, I would assemble them and wrap them well and then defrost and bake them the day of the party. I wouldn’t pre-bake. Hope this helps!
  Reply
  - Valerie says
    2014/12/15 at 5:32 pm
    Thank you so much! Yes, it does help and I shall try this!
    Reply
Marla Meridith says
2014/12/25 at 4:49 pm
This is such a fun appetizer recipe!!
Reply
Phoebe says
2016/06/29 at 11:42 am
Can I substitute sun-dried tomatoes with regular ones?
Reply
- recipefiction says
  2016/06/29 at 2:55 pm
  I’m not sure you would want to, the flavor is so different from regular and sundried, plus the difference in moisture content. Sort of like substituting grapes for raisins.
  Reply