Mexican Spaghetti with Meatballs

My family loves Pasta! Pasta Pasta Pasta! I think most families are like that.  Mine though would have Spaghetti every night and never think twice.  I mean I love pasta too, but I think I could go the rest of my life and never eat Noodles and Marinara sauce ever again and be just fine with it. I want variety in my food! You have to remember these are the same guys who would cereal all the time also! On Meal planning days I rack my brain trying to come up with not only family friendly meals but Blog Worthy Meals also.  Given the week this can be a tall order.  Luckily just the week before I hosted our Company Holiday Party. {Yes in Retail we have to wait till the Holidays are over before we get a chance to Celebrate!} I was able to make a really cool and fun spread but I never had a chance to Photograph any of it! Arrrg…. this is sacrilege in a food bloggers life!  So I am just making it all over again.  This time I am making them on smaller scale and more of Meal than appetizers.

More recipes @ the Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Let me tell you this meal is out of this world! Love Mexican Food? Love Pasta? Love Spaghetti? Than this is YOUR DINNER! Taste of Home just came out with their new cookbook magazine and I think that 1,000 bloggers have bought it as I am seeing these recipes all over the place. They are fantastic! I took the basic recipe and added a few of my own tweaks. Since this was the second time I had made these Meatballs I think I have the recipe just the way you will like it! Spicy with a kick but not overly hot, flavorful and bold, and with just the perfect enchilada inspired sauce. The best secret to this dish….. The Pasta! In our Carb loving world, and just coming off serious holiday baking sugar rush do we really need 40 grams of Carbs per serving? No We Do Not! Dreamfields Pasta has 5 grams of Carbs! That’s a 35 gram per serving savings! {only if you don’t pack in it and have 7 more servings} I have about 10-15 more lbs to loose and I won’t get there eating as much pasta as my family wants! So Thank you Dreamfields! Who could give up eating something as Delish as this?

There is a little bit of prep work involved in this dish. You will have to make or have on hand a 8×8 pan of corn bread. I made my bread first thing in the morning so when I went to make the dish it was ready to go. You can even make the bread the night before if you want. Other than that these are a breeze to whip up! The easiest way to make even shaped meatball is with a ice cream scoop. Each one will be the same size and will bake up perfectly. I do belive you could subsitute this with ground turkey just add a beaten egg to the meat mixture to help it hold together better. Next time I make them I am going to use ground chicken. The sauce is just as easy and you have room to play if you want to spice it up or tone it down here. Your family will love this spin on spaghetti. Make the meatballs smaller and you have a perfect SUPER BOWL appetizer also! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of Lean Ground beef (divided)
• 1 Package of Jiffy Cornbread baked and crumbled into bread crumbs
• 2 package Taco Seasoning
• Spaghetti noodles
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 16oz can of Red Enchilada sauce (divided)
• 2-4 dashes Hot Sauce
• shredded Cheese and Sour Cream for Garnish

Instructions

• Line 2 cookie sheets with foil and spray with non stick spray
• preheat oven to 350
• take 1/2 pound meat and set aside
• in a large mixing bowl combine the 1 and 1/2 pounds of meat, 1 package taco seasoning, and corn bread crumbs
• then mix in 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce
• Using a scoop make and round out all the meat into meatball shapes
• line each up on the cookie sheet
• bake for 30-35 min {for appetizer size 20 min}
• meanwhile:
• brown the remaining 1/2 pound of meat and drain
• In a Large sauce pan add the remaining Enchilada sauce and the tomato soup and the 2nd half of the taco seasoning
• bring to a boil add the taco meat and reduce to a simmer
• Boil and Drain noodles
• remove Meatballs from oven if ready
• Serve Meatballs, noodles, and sauce just as you would Italian Spaghetti
• garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream!
• Ole’!