I explained to him that we needed to branch out a little. I asked him if there was anything he wanted to try. He thought. And he thought. And he thought. Then he smiled a giggled a little and said that he wanted to touch raw meat. As budding-serial-killer visions ran through my head, I decided to make the best of it and asked if he'd want to make meatballs. He agreed and we were off to the grocery store.
My meatballs aren't very traditional. But hey, there's no Italian blood in this house. First carrots and celery were diced and dumped in a pan to sauté. Wes got to dice and to stir in the pan so he was stoked. Next came shallot and once everything was cooked, it went into a big bowl to cool. And we were off to play Xbox while we waited.
Into the bowl of cooled veg went meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal), an egg, parsley, parmesean cheese and bread crumbs. And then we got dirty! Wes got in there like a pro and banged out a dozen meatballs in no time. At first he thought the feel of the meat was weird, but he really got into it. It reminded me of him playing with Play-Doh.
We sauted the meatballs in a heavy pan (I know I should rest them in the fridge but people were starving). Then simmer in the pan with a jar of sauce. No Prago this time but instead my favorite sauce from Trader Joes. Pasta, more Parmesean and some parsley and dinner was served!
How was it? Well even Parker ate some. Mom said it was the best she'd had including from restaurants. Week 2 was definitely a success.
Question from Aunt Angela on the type of sauce. We really love the Rustica sauce. It's simple, has a clean flavor, and doesn't have much to it making it perfect for doctoring up. Plus Wes and I fight over the occasional mushroom bits that make it into the sauce.
ReplyDelete