Ablaze's Hearty Turkey Meatballls, with seasonal veg served on a bed of Pasta and toppped with shavings of Local Cheddar Cheese
I made this last week for my wife and I and ot went down a treat, the trick woth any pasta dish is to ensure to mix some of your sauce woth the Pasta before serving it.
I sometimes make my own meatballs from scratch, but on this occasion, I opted for the easier option and bought them in the supermarket.
Before we get into the ingredients and recipe, let's think about food for a minute. We ingest it every day, but do we really give it the level of thought and discourse it warrants?
Homemade is always best
People die more in Western countries because of what they eat.
That statement above is a fact. It's not a maybe or open to debate, it's fact. The old adage comes to mind, you are what you eat.
Certain diseases are far more prevalent in US, UK, Ireland, Australia etc than they are in Japan, China, Nigeria. They can be traced to our diets and the fuel that we put into our bodies.
You'll notice, I said fuel and not food. Why? Well in my opinion, some of the 'food' we ingest is anything but food. I'm referring to sugar and salt filled convenience food, fast food, snacks like sweets and crisps. Walk around a supermarket and scan the shelves. Lots of what you see is not food in my opinion.
Many of the "foods" are mass produced and highly marketed. Is it any surprise that we have a global pandemic of obesity, autoimmune disease and diabetes in Western countries?
Doom and Gloom
Ok, so I don't want to be preaching about the bad food and not offer a solution or a way out of this mess, so let me offer something.
Let me start out by saying that not everybody can afford to do this, which is a problem right off the bat, so I would advocate for government support for poorer coherts of society to get food stamps for specific healthy foods. Have a list of healthy foods that they can choose from and give state money so that they can have these healthy foods for their families.
So my advise is to minimise how many packaged, tinned or processed foods that you consume.
Instead, opt for whole foods like nuts, legumes, vegetables, fruits and be like your parents or grandparents and use recipes and make things from scratch.
I accept that it takes more money and time to do this, but this is your health folks and the health of those you love, so the investment is worthwhile and pays off. How? Well statistically you'll live a longer and healthier life, so it should be a no-brainer.
Practice what you preach, isn't that what they say?
Ok, lets get into it....
**Ablaze's Hearty Turkey Meatballls, with seasonal veg **
Turkey Meatballls
Handful of Cherry Tomatoes
1 Green pepper
1 Yellow pepper
3 Carrots
2 Scallions
Grated Cheddar cheese
1 Courgette
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Olive oil spray
Spaghetti Pasta
STEP 1: Grab your tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and carrots to size.
STEP 2: Put your carrots on the boil. I usually put on extra carrots for my kids dinner as well. Two birds and all that! Also, time to cook your Spaghetti.
STEP 3: Add a lug of olive oil or a couple of sprays from a bottle. Heat to medium and add your turkey meatballs,turning frequently to ensure even cooking.
STEP 4: Once the meatballs are nicely browned, it's time to add your peppers and give it a fee minutes.
STEP 5: Now get some carrots from the pot and add to the mix. We can add our scallions, cherry tomatoes and tin of tomatoes at this stage too and simmer.
STEP 6: Our pasta should be ready now. Remember once you've drainded your pasta, pour some boiling water over it to remove any excess starch. Then add a few spoons of our sauce and mix it in with the pasta, trust me this will elevate your pasta dishes to the next level!
STEP 7: We're ready to plate up now, and I like to use large flatish bowls here.
Mmmmm... looks good!
STEP 8: Question time... What doesn't taste better with cheese? Very little...
Ok grab your cheese grater and add the shavings to the top of your dish and let it melt on nicely.
Bon appetite!!
You're done! Time to tuck in and enjoy the fruit of your labours!