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Soo…I had a baby! As I’m sure you can imagine, I’m sleep deprived, a ball of emotions and in a constant state of worriedness. (And apparently full of typos after re-reading this post.)But I’m also hopelessly, recklessly in love with this little munchkin…Theodore (Teddy) Thomas Leggio. Teddy was born December 18th, five days after his due date and he could not be more perfect. I mean, look at that face!
I promise to share more about little Teddy in the coming months, along with a look into his super adorable neutral nursery (we did not find out the sex before), but in the meantime, I’ve built up a whole slew of recipes to share with you while I take a little bit of time off from recipe developing and photographing to focus on our little guy. Instead of three recipes per week, I’ll just be sharing two, but look forward to three posts per week again starting in March or April.
Now, on to skinny spaghetti and meatballs…
…chicken meatballs
With winter comes the incessant need for comfort food, but now that the holidays have come and gone, we’re all focusing on trying to get those holiday (BABY) pounds off, right? Although, I don’t know about you, but my craving for comfort doesn’t just dissipate because I need to shed some extra pounds. If anything, the sheer thought that winter only technically started a few weeks ago has me reaching for obscene amounts of chocolate just to cope.
These lightened-up spaghetti and meatballs are my compromise — comfort food meets healthy.
Ground chicken, garlic, onion, italian seasoning, and plenty of parmesan make up the base of the meatball, while an egg and a little bit of panko breadcrumbs act as binders to hold everything together.
Instead of browning the meatballs in olive on the stove, I line them up on a sheet pan and bake them in a super hot oven to reduce the fat, but retain the crusty exterior I love in my meatballs.
The sauce is basically a copy from my Mom’s spaghetti and meatballs — tomato paste, water, plenty of red wine, sugar and italian seasoning — and really the only way you need to make red sauce…ever.
Toss everything with nutty whole-wheat spaghetti and this comfort classic turned healthy is finished…
Now, sorry to cut this short, but I have a two-week-old Teddy begging to be fed…Enjoy!
- ½ pound ground chicken breast
- 1 small onion, ¼ grated and remaining sliced thin + 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
- 4 garlic cloves, divided
- 1¾ teaspoons Italian seasoning, divided
- 1¾ teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish.
- ½ egg, slightly scrambled
- ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¾ pound whole-wheat spaghetti
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 small green pepper, roughly chopped
- ½ cup red wine
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 18 ounces water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, combine chicken, grated onion, 2 tablespoons chopped onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, ¾ salt, parmesan, egg and panko with your hands. Form into 1-inch meatballs and line up on baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.
- Cook spaghetti until slightly under aldente.
- While the meatballs are cooking make the sauce and cook the noodles. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over a medium heat. Add remaining sliced onion, garlic, green peppers and ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté until slightly softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add red wine, reduce for 1 minute. Add tomato paste, cook 1 one minute. Add remaining salt, water, Italian seasoning and sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until the veggies are softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add spaghetti to sauce, toss to combine and finish cooking the noodles until they are aldente. Serve with meatballs and garnish with more parmesan cheese.
Brielle @ Breezy Bakes says
Oh my! Little Teddy is just precious!!!
And secondly, those meatballs look perfect. I love that they are made with chicken. I’ve tried turkey before, but I’m going to give these a whirl.
Nicole says
Thank you!!! I prefer chicken over turkey times a million. I don’t know why, but it just tastes wayyy better to me.
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
I AM DYING OVER TEDDY. Could a baby be more adorable and perfect? I think not.
Congrats girlfriend! You made good work 😉
Also, I want this spaghetti for dinner. That is all.
Pinned!
Nicole says
Awwww thank you my love!!!! Can’t wait for you to meet him at some point! 🙂
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health says
Teddy is absolutely perfect! And I LOVE his name. It’s adorable.
Also, I have to say that I think it’s awesome that you waited to find out the gender. I do ultrasound on the days that I’m not working on the blog and I’ve gotten annoyed with how wrapped up some people get in whether or not it’s a boy or a girl. I’ve had people get up and leave the room because they are so mad it wasn’t what they wanted. It drives me nuts!
Nicole says
Thank you!!! I cannot believe people storm out of the room! That is just absolutely insane! We were definitely happy either way, I totally had a feeling he was a boy though! Mother’s intuition, I guess?? 🙂
Olivia - Primavera Kitchen says
OMG Teddy is absolutely adorable. What a lovely picture, Nicole. I can’t wait to read more about your baby, delivery day and to see more nursery pictures. I am 8 months pregnant and my due date in on February 11. I can’t wait to have my baby on my arms. This week is my last day of working and then I’ll have more time to cook and freeze some food, clean the house and finish few things in the nursery room.
These meatballs looks delicious 😉
Nicole says
Thank you!!!! I didn’t realize you were pregnant!! February 11th is going to be here before you know it, make sure you relax between now and then!! I wish I had slept in a little bit more. Ha! Can’t wait to see your little one!