When I was a child I really liked the fairy tale “Lady and the Tramp”. One of the most characteristic moment of this fairy tale is when both dogs eat spaghetti with meatballs together. It was surprising to me, because my mother always made spaghetti with only meat  sauce, without meatballs. So I decided to prepare a similar dish for a romantic lunch with my husband, with the addition of steamed asparagus it fits perfectly in this dish  🙂

Ingredients:

meatballs:

250g ground pork
half red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp marjoram
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
2 tbsp powdered bread
oil for frying

sauce:

250g ground pork
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sweet chilli powder
½ tsp ground black pepper
a pinch of salt (depends of your taste)
3 tbsp tomato paste
200g spiral pasta
grated cheese

Procedure:

In a medium bowl, place all the meatballs ingredients and mix until just combined. Shape the mixture into 1 ½ inches each. Fry and set aside. Cook the pasta as per direction. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Add the meat and fry until completely brown. Pour in the tomato sauce, add tomato paste, oregano, basil, sweet chilli powder, salt and pepper. Simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer 15- 20 or until sauce has thicken. Place the pasta in a dish, put sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese. Place the meatballs on the top. Serve with steamed asparagus.

Enjoy!