Because I love carbs

So last night I really wanted pasta puttanesca and the bf wanted spaghetti with meat sauce. Having never made puttanesca sauce before I have to admit I was intimidated so I decided to combine both of our wants into a fun take on spaghetti and meatballs:

For the Meatballs:
1lb ground turkey (or beef)
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 handful fresh parsley finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil + 1 drizzle
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients but the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix well in a large bowl. Grease a cookie sheet with the remaining olive oil (or spray with Pam, I was out of Pam so I used olive oil instead). Form meatballs out of the meat mixture (any size you like I made medium ones and this recipe makes about 12 medium size meatballs). Place on the cookie sheet and bake for about 25 minutes.

"Puttanesca" Sauce (I admit this is not a very authentic version but it tasted really good anyway)
1 large (16 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 large onion minced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 small can sliced black olives corsely chopped
2 handfuls fresh parsley chopped
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (more if you want it spicer less if you want it milder)
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 lb spaghetti noodles

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add noodles when water boils. In a large dutch oven heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over med. low to med. heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until garlic is soft. Add the olives and cook for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes. Once you have emptied the tomato can fill it about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way with water and add to dutch oven. Stir well and add 1 handful of the parsley, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Allow to cook until the noodles have finished and the meatballs are ready.

To serve: Place some of the noodles in the bottom of a bowl add some parmesean cheese and top with 2 or 3 of the meatballs. Top with the sauce and additional parmesean cheese.

Enjoy!

P.S. My cat fell off the bed this morning and it was absolutely hilarious. He may be a ninja but he's a total klutz too.