Spaghetti in my house is a debateable subject. My mom always made spaghetti with a meat sauce – brown ground beef, add tomato sauce, serve over spaghetti. That’s how I know it. Easy. Simple.

But then I got married. A pasta-loving girl married a pasta-disliking guy. We’ve been together almost 7 years, and I still wonder how someone can dislike pasta. It’s a mystery to me.

But there is one form of pasta he does like: spaghetti with meatballs. Not meat sauce.

The things we do for love. I’ve also switched from skim milk to 1% milk, deciding neither of these (meat sauce and skim) were that important to me.

No worries – he’s learning to love vegetables. It’s about compromise, right?

Meatballs always seemed like a complicated mystery to me. Turns out, they’re just as simple as browning ground beef!

The secret to amazing meatballs is this (not) secret ingredient: crushed red pepper flakes. It’s a magic spice.

Marriage Saving Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 egg*
• 1/2 C instant oats
• 1/4 C milk
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 pound lean ground beef*

*preferably organic

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400*. Coat a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
2. Combine egg, oats, milk and spices.
3. Add beef, and gently mix until combined – try to handle the meat as little as possible – overmixing will result in tough meatballs.
4. Make 20 uniform meatballs, about 1.5” in diameter. Place on baking sheet, not touching. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until no longer pink inside.

Serve with spaghetti and tomato sauce, of course!

Do you an your significant other disagree on how a food should be cooked?

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Tagged as: dinner, husband, recipes