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It's Italian! (sorta)

Trader Joe's Grand Reserve 2008 Cab

Today's inspiration actually came last night (hence the empty bottle), as I found myself on the sofa with a backlog of Grey's Anatomy episodes (the boards are right around the corner!) and only my cats for company.  So I popped open one of my favorite bottles and let my troubles fade away into Jackson Avery's abs...

I'm only an aspiring oenophile, so I'll leave the wine critiques to the experts.  All I can say is, I dig this wine.  And what springs to mind when you're in a red-wine haze? Hot, buttery garlic bread... Thin tender noodles... Meatballs!  But I've only recently started eating meat again in my recovery from vegetarianism and I'm not yet ready to dive into red meat.  So instead I went for some crab-meatballs!  My carnivorous friends will call it an abomination regardless, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I found a recipe for Crab Meatball Chowder which got me started.  You can checkout the original recipe (for 6) above, but here's how I altered it.

• 1/2 lb lump crabmeat 
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/8 cup almond milk
• 1/2 tsp spicy mustard
• 1/3 cup Italian Style breadcrumbs (includes salt, parsley, onion powder, garlic)
• 1 heaping tbsp of red bell pepper
• 1 heaping tbsp of yellow bell pepper
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire
• 1/2 tsp Chili Lime Cholula
• 2 tbsp-ish lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix everything together. Easy!  
2. Form your balls.  Just roll them around in the palm of your hands.  I tried going for big meaty balls, but I found that smaller 1-inch balls stayed more ball-ish when cooking.  You should get about 20 small meatballs.  (Balls...teehee)
3. Sautee over medium-high heat in olive oil. It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes. You just want to get them to a nice golden brown.  Drain them on a paper towel.  If you're a perfectionist, once they're a little cooler, you can re-form the flatter ones into balls after they're cooked.  

  

To finish, I tossed some spaghetti with a little store-bought pesto and topped it with the meatballs.

For dessert, I created a little liquid tiramisu.  I topped off some Italian roast coffee with a mixture of whipped cream and Kahlua, then I added a sprinkle of cocoa for good measure.

All-in-all, quite a yummy (and filling) dinner.  And it only took about 20 mins from start to finish.

Let me know what you think!

-Kate

Dinner Music: