Italian Marinara with Meatballs

My sweet friend, Lindsay Pineda, shared this recipe with me and I'm so glad she did! Lindsay told me this is an authentic Italian dish that her family has made for year and she wanted to share the recipe so I could try it out! 

When I first read the ingredients, I was nervous that all the fresh herbs would be too overwhelming, especially adding in the Taste of Italy essential oil, but it was perfectly balanced!! This was really easy to make and the fact that you make it in a crock pot made my afternoon less hectic!! I threw the marinara sauce ingredients in the crock pot, mixed up my meatball ingredients, browned them and put them in the crock pot for 5 hours. I made my gluten free spaghetti noodles 20 minutes before the sauce and meatballs were scheduled to be done and we were ready to eat!!

This recipe can be made gluten free if you use gluten free noodles and gluten free breadcrumbs.  Oh and by the way...the Young Living Essential Oil is optional but really makes a difference in the taste. Here are the ingredients in this oil:

Basil leaf oil, Oregano (Origanum vulgare)† aerial parts oil, Oregano (Origanum minutiflorum)† aerial parts oil, Oregano (Origanum onites)† aerial parts oil, Oregano (Origanum majorana)† aerial parts oil.

If you need to know where to order this oil, email me at amandasgreatrecipes@gmail.com and I'll hook you up.

Enjoy this one! It's a repeater for sure!!


Marinara Sauce: 

Ingredients 

• 2 cans crushed tomatoes 
• 1 can tomato paste 
• 2 bunches fresh basil (you will take this out at the end so they need to be whole bunches) 
• 4-5 sprigs fresh oregano (you will take this out at the end so they need to be whole sprigs) 
• ¼ c. reduced fat parmesan cheese (fresh grated)
• 1 tsp each – garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, dried basil, dried parsley 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper 
• 2 drops Taste of Italy Young Living Essential Oil (optional) 

Directions

• Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, stir together. Turn crock pot on low heat. 

Meatballs: 

Ingredients 

NOTE: This makes a lot but, it’s easy in the slow cooker

• 3 pounds ground turkey (Jennie-O, 93/7 fat) 
• 1 ½ pounds (1 package) turkey sausage (hot or sweet- I buy Jennie-O) 
• ½ c. panko bread crumbs (I use Gluten Free Panko Bread Crumbs)
• ½ c. reduced fat parmesan cheese (fresh grated)
• 2 eggs 
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 3 drops Taste of Italy Young Living Essential Oil (optional) 
• 1 tsp each – garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper 
• Fresh basil & oregano – as much as you want, cut or torn into small pieces 

Directions

Combine all ingredients and roll into small balls. Add 2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil to the pan and brown the outsides of the meatballs before putting them into the slow cooker (If you don’t do this step, they will fall apart in the sauce). 

Add them to slow cooker after they’ve been browned (note – the sauce will not cover them; this is okay, it will by the end of the cooking process), put the lid on and cook on low for 4-5 hours. 

When you remove the meatballs from the sauce at the end, do so with a slotted spoon to catch the basil and oregano leaves/stems to remove them from the sauce. 

Serve over your favorite noodles and add fresh parmesan on top!

Cheesy Garlic Cauliflower Bread Sticks

My little girl has started showing sensitivity to wheat, so we are eliminating wheat from her diet to see if her tummy gets better. So far, we are on week 1 of no wheat and she hasn't complained of her tummy hurting once! Which is good, but she loves bread. I mean LOVES it! Especially dinner rolls and bread sticks. I ran across this recipe about a year ago and never made it, but decided to based on our new situation and she really liked these bread sticks! My husband LOVED these. So I'm sharing :) I have no idea where this recipe came from and I tweaked it a bit anyway so I'm claiming it as my own!

These tasty little bread sticks are gluten free because the "flour" is nothing but steamed and finely chopped cauliflower! So healthy! We paired them with a side of marinara sauce and they are fantastic! If you love a garlic taste, you'll like these a lot!  Feel free to double this recipe for more bread sticks. 

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked, finely chopped cauliflower
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• olive oil

Ingredients for Topping:

• 2 cloves of garlic (add more if you LOVE garlic...I used 5 cloves)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat over to 450 degrees. Chop the cauliflower florets into chunks and steam them in a steamer or on the stove until slightly soft (about 15 min). Place in a chopper and chop finely. 

NOTE: One large head of cauliflower should produce approximately 3 cups of riced (finely grained) cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately , or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Prepare a baking stone or baking sheet by spreading a small amount of olive oil on it. Make sure it is a small amount, because if you use too much, it will drip into your oven and cause a lot of smoke.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg, Parmesan and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt. Stir until well combined.

Now you are ready to transfer the contents to the baking stone or sheet. Use your hands and pat out into a large rectangle. It is important to make sure your dough is not too thick. 

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes (you want the top to brown). Once it is done, pull it out of the oven and put the garlic and cheese toppings on.

Place back in the oven at 450 degrees until the cheese is melted. Let the bread cool for about 15 minutes, slice and serve! This pairs nicely with marinara sauce!