This creamy, veggie-rich pasta and meatball combo is the twist on classic spaghetti you didn’t know you needed.
- Prep time 30 minutes
- Total time 50 minutes
- Portion size 6 servings
- Credits : Canadian Living Magazine
Ingredients
Chicken Meatballs:
Asparagus Pesto Spaghetti:
Method
Chicken Meatballs Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In large bowl, mix chicken, basil, Parmesan, bread crumbs, onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. With wet hands, shape mixture into 1 tbsp balls; place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake on middle rack of oven until meatballs are no longer pink inside, or instant-read thermometer inserted in centre of meatballs reads 165°F, about 15 minutes. Keep warm. (Make-ahead: Can be stored in airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.)
Asparagus Pesto Spaghetti Meanwhile, in small saucepan of boiling salted water, blanch asparagus for 3 minutes. Plunge asparagus into bowl of ice water and drain well. Roughly chop asparagus.
In food processor, pulse asparagus, spinach, garlic, Parmesan, pistachios and lemon juice until asparagus and spinach are finely chopped. Season with salt and pepper. With food processor on low speed, pour in olive oil in slow thin stream, pulsing until pesto reaches desired texture. Set aside. (Make-ahead: Can be stored in airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.)
In large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid, drain pasta, then return to saucepan. Add reserved asparagus pesto and enough of reserved cooking liquid to coat pasta.
Divide Asparagus Pesto Spaghetti among plates and top with Chicken Meatballs. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and hot pepper flakes, basil leaves, chopped pistachios and fleur de sel, if desired.
Nutritional facts Per serving: about
- Iron 6 mg
- Fibre 5 g
- Sodium 350 mg
- Sugars 4 g
- Protein 33 g
- Calories 545
- Total fat 20 g
- Cholesterol 60 mg
- Saturated fat 6 g
- Total carbohydrate 58 g
