Foodieseeker Friday - Meatballs Carnival Style

This week we have enjoyed our first Foodieseeker meal. You may remember in previous Foodieseeker posts I have said that I am going to be recreating some of the dishes from the Carnival Vista dining menus. I started this feature by looking at the menu from Cucina del Capitano. We love Italian food and this is one of the restaurants (one of many!) that I am looking forward to visiting.

This is how Carnival describe Cucina del Capitano...

"Say arrivederci to ordinary and ciao to an exciting dining experience at the restaurant that pays homage to our unique heritage. Italian-American dishes inspired by the recipes from our Italian captains’ and officers’ childhoods are served up family-style in a comfy, eclectic environment decorated like an Italian country home. Vintage images of our captains and ships adorn the walls, and there’s even a Captain’s table where you just might see the man himself dine."

Doesn't it sounds fantastic!

After examining the menu and changing my mind on what to cook quite a few times I eventually decided to make my own interpretation of Nonna's Linguine and Meatballs. We all love meatballs, especially the children so I thought that this would be the ideal recipe to introduce them to some of the types of meals that we will be able to enjoy whilst on Carnival's newest vessel, Vista. Vista will be embarking on her maiden voyage in just over a week which I am so excited about and will no doubt have an exciting post to write about the event!

Anyway, back to today's recipe. This is how Nonna's Linguine and Meatballs is described on the menu...

"Handmade with olive oil sauteed garlic and onion, baked with fresh mozzarella, served over linguine al dente with the Captains tomato sauce."

Now that I had the idea of what to expect it was time to get cooking. This is what I did..

Meatballs Carnival Style

Ingredients - Makes 20 meatballs

500g mince beef

500g pork mince

1lg red onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, crushed

Extra virgin olive oil

540g pasatta (I used Cirio)

1 red pepper, chopped

1 lg portobello mushroom, halved and sliced

100g Mozzarella pearls

Linguine
Fresh basil

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180C

1 - Place 2tsp of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan and gently heat

2 - Gently fry half of the red onions and 3 crushed garlic cloves for 5 minutes over a medium heat

3 - Once starting to soften remove from the heat and leave on one side

4 - Place the beef and pork mince in a mixing bowl and combine together

5 - Mix in the onions, garlic and any remaining oil until evenly combined

6 - Make balls out of the meat mixture, you should get approximately 20 meatballs if you do not want to use them all now freeze for another day

7 - Place the meatballs in an oven proof dish, scatter over a few fresh basil leave, ripped, according to taste, lay over the mozzarella pearls and drizzle a little olive oil over the top

8 - Place in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for 30 minutes

9 - While the meatballs are cooking prepare the tomato sauce by cooking the remaining onions and garlic in 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil for 5 minutes before adding the peppers and mushrooms, fry for another 5 minutes

10 - Place the linguine in a pan of boiling water as gently cook as per instruction

11 - Add the pasatta to the pan and bring to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes

12 - When the meatballs are ready remove from the oven and add to the tomato sauce, ensuring that all of the balls have been covered and keep on a low heat for 5 minutes

13  Serve on a bed of linguine

In my recipe I have used a mixture of beef and pork mince. I find that the pork helps to bind the beef together and help the balls to retain their shape when cooking. Plus the pork adds more flavour when combined with the beef.

This meal was a success all round. The kids loved it and even asked for seconds! While we are away with Carnival on Vista in the summer I am planning to order Nonna's Linguine and Meatballs to see if they are as I imagined them to be. So, in the summer, keep an eye out for the update!

Enjoy x

Disclosure: I am the Foodieseeker blogger for Carnival Cruise Lines

Cook Once Eat Twice