Recipe: Cajun Spaghetti and Meatballs -- a Crowd Favorite

What to cook when family visits? I decided to go with a food favorite that rarely fails—spaghetti and meatballs.

The differences between my dad's spaghetti recipe and others are that he substitutes Rotel tomatoes for diced tomatoes, and he flavors his food with Cajun seasoning. These two changes give the spaghetti a bit of a kick after each bite.

I have made my dad's spaghetti once or twice before, but this time I used turkey meat instead of beef.

My fiance's 12-year-old sister helped me make the meatballs. It was her first and maybe last time mixing raw meat and eggs together with her fingers.

"It was all nasty and gushy and gross," she told me. But the final product turned out to be delicious.

It was hot enough for a fireman to have seconds, and good enough for everyone to leave the table with food babies.

Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground meat (beef, turkey)
1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 tbl. Italian seasoning
2 tbl. Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
2 eggs
1 tbl. oil
1 onion, chopped
1/4 c. celery, chopped
1/4 c. green peppers, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 tbs. sugar
1 pack of noodles

Instructions:
Step 1: Roll the meatballs.
In a large bowl, mix by hand 1.5 lbs. of ground meat, Lipton onion soup mix, 1 tbs Italian seasoning, 1 tbs Tony's and 2 eggs. Once mixed, roll into meatballs. The size can range. Bake for about 10 min at 350.

Step 2: Cook down veggies.
In a large pot, add the oil and chopped onion. Cook down on a med-high for about 5-7 min, until onions are translucent, but not browned. Add in the celery, green pepper, and garlic. Cook down for 5-7 min.

Step 3: Add tomatoes, seasoning.
Add in the 4 cans of tomatoes, 1/2 c. of water, sugar, 1 tbl. Tony's, 1 tbl. Italian seasoning, and any other seasoning you'd like (e.g., basil, oregano). Bring the sauce to a boil and then immediately turn the fire to low. Simmer on low for 15-20 min.

Step 4: Add meat.
As the veggies are cooking down, brown the 1/2 lbs. of ground meat in a separate pan. After the sauce has been simmering, add the cooked meatballs and the cooked ground meat to the sauce. Simmer for about 20 min. Continue to stir.

Step 5: Noodles.

Don't forget to boil, drain and rinse your noodles.