Mom's Meatballs and My Pasta + Grated Pecorino

My mom shuffled 8 fist-sized meatballs in my fridge the other day,
"Those are very basic pork meatballs with little seasoning, you can cook them anyway you want," my mom said.

She only mixed some ground pork (on the fatty side) together with Chinese water chestnuts, salt, and black pepper. The chestnuts give the meatballs some bits of crunchy bites, they're often used in ground meat to add more texture to the dish.

Looking at those meaty goodies, I have to put them in good use.
How about...

Meatball pasta served with grated pecorino?

Ingredients (3 to 4 portion)?

Meatballs:
Some ground pork
Some Chinese water chestnuts
Some salt
Some black pepper
Some vegetable oil
Some olive oil
1 can of garlic and basil spaghetti sauce
1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

Pasta:
1/2 onion
1 canned corn
1 carrot
1 yellow squash
12 button mushroom
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
3-4 portions of spaghetti
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some red pepper flakes
Some pecorino
Some flat leaf parsley (optional)

How?

Like I mentioned earlier, my mom mixed all the ingredients for the meat mixture, shape them into fist sized balls, and then into the fryer till the outer layer turns semi browned color.

Once that's done, drain well and let the meat cool down completely,
You can either store them in the fridge for up to one week, or store in the freezer for a longer period.

Chop all the vegetables into small cubes and slice the mushroom -

Bring a pot of water to a boil, toss is few pinches of salt,
Add in the spaghetti and cook till almost al dente in texture,
When ready, drain well and set aside.

Drizzle some olive oil in a deep pot,
Add in 6 to 8 meatballs, sear all sides till coated with darker color,
Pour in spaghetti sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning,
Stir occasionally and cook till the sauce has been reduced by 1/3,
Turn off the heat and set aside.

Drizzle some olive oil in a big pan,
Add in chopped onion, sprinkle some salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes,
Give it a quick stir, cook till the onion turns translucent, about 3 minutes.

Add in chopped carrot, season with some more salt,
Let the vegetable sweat a little bit, the salt will help in drawing out the liquid inside,
Add the squash and mushroom,
Same steps, we need sto prinkle some salt for every later,
Once these two cook down a little bit, pour in the canned corn,
Some more salt please, also add 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning into the mixture.

Cook for few more minutes,
Now you'll see all these chopped vegetables soaking in their own juice,
Don't worry about it, let's add in drained spaghetti and just let it absorb all the juice from the vegetables.

Time for plating,
Take some pasta, top with 2 giant meatballs and their tomato sauce,
Add freshly grated pecorino all over,
You can also sprinkle some finely chopped flat leaf parsley or simple crushed black pepper will do.

Take a bite,
Feel that cheese oozes in your mouth, adding a salty zing to the dish,
Maybe I'll grate more cheese for my portion, just for me. Greedy.

*The work between mother and daughter, plus a little help from pecorino*

Cindy's Rating: 7