Classic spaghetti and meatballs with a gentle Asian kick
If you haven’t already tried this One-Pot Spicy Meatballs and Spaghetti cooking technique, then it’s time to discover a new trick. By directly cooking dried pasta in the pasta sauce, every stand absorbs and sucks in flavour giving it a richer creamy texture. Additionally, it saves on cooking time as no extra pots of boiling water are needed.
One pot pasta cooking technique
One-pot pasta requires the right ratio of pasta to water and a controlled cooking time to ensure that the liquid soaks into the pasta and creates an “al dente” bite, whilst leaving enough sauce behind.
The result will be perfectly cooked pasta and sauce
Of course, there’s no need to panic. If your liquid has evaporated too quickly and the pasta needs more cooking time, just add a few splashes of water and continue simmering until it has cooked through. The recipe below has been tried and tested many times, so don’t wait and get started!
Easy meatball recipe
As this recipe is all about speed, pork mince is infused with sriracha sauce, soy sauce, and garlic for a fast but powerful flavour injection. Magic Tomato Sauce adds the extra element of umami and for a very satisfying finishing touch, Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise is used as a garnish. Never put mayonnaise on your meatballs before? Try it! It truly is a wonderful combination.
If you can’t find Japanese Kewpie in your local Asian supermarket or online, check the recipe notes below for a pleasing substitute.
If you liked the recipe you may also be interested in:
- One-Pot Roasted Chicken Lemongrass Curry
- One-Pot Roasted Cauliflower with Spiced Butter Rice
- Chicken Lime Tagine
One-Pot Spicy Meatballs and Spaghetti
A super easy one-pot pasta dish with Asian spiced meatballs and a delicious magic tomato sauce. Rich umami flavours at the click of a finger.
- Prep Time: 5 Minutes
- Cook Time: 20 Minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Method: One Pot Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian Fusion
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 250g pork mince
- 250g beef mince
- 2 tbsp sriracha
- 2 soy sauce
- 1 garlic clove, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
- ½ salt
- ¼ cup (4 tbsp) panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
Spaghetti
- 150ml water
- 225g spaghetti
- Squeeze lemon Juice
- Basil leaves for garnish
- Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, or regular mayonnaise (see recipe notes)
- 500ml Tomato Passata
- 250ml chicken stock (or vegetable)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp light brown sugar
- Fresh or dried red chilli
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- Sea salt flakes and pepper
Instructions
- Combine all meatball ingredients gently and shape into 14 balls.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and cook for 5 mins, turning until browned all over.
- Add all the Magic Tomato Sauce ingredients plus 150ml water and gently stir to combine, being careful not to break the meatballs.
- Push meatballs to each side and place pasta in the middle of the pan along with 1 tbsp olive oil. Bring to a boil then quickly turn to a medium boil.
- Every few minutes as the pasta starts to soften gently move it around the pan to spread it out and stop it sticking together. Eventually it will become soft and you can spread it around the pan evenly and then just let it slowly cook and absorb the sauce. The sauce should bubble away gently, not aggressively.
- When the pasta is cooked and the sauce has reduced, remove it from the heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Squeeze over some lemon juice, extra olive oil and garnish with the basil leaves.
- Divide between bowls and drizzle with Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, or regular mayo (see notes)
Notes
Substitute: If you can’t find Kewpie mayonnaise then mix 1 tsp of soy sauce along with a tiny squeeze of lemon into 4 tbsp of mayonnaise.
Keywords: One-pot pasta recipe, spicy meatballs, sriracha recipes, one pot spaghetti recipes, easy tomato sauce recipes
