Garlic Spinach Pasta With Baked Chicken Bacon Meatballs

Last night I found myself standing in my kitchen trying to figure out dinner, again. It's a never-ending job, but somebody has to do it! After taking a brief inventory of our food supplies, I knew I wanted to do something with the GIANT bag of spinach that I bought at Costco last weekend. Pasta sounded like a good idea. There was a recipe on the back of the bag for garlic spinach to serve as a side dish. I decided I would make that and mix it in with some pasta and maybe add in a few other ingredients.

I was also thinking meatballs. I found a recipe for chicken meatballs. We didn't have any ground meat, but we had chicken breasts! I made my own ground chicken in the food processor! I never realized how easy that would be. I could easily save some money in the future by processing my own meat. Wow, I think I just got more than a dinner out of this.

Baked Chicken Bacon Meatballs (adapted from: baked chicken meatballs original recipe: baked chicken meatballs)

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips and ground in a food processor (1 lb. ground chicken)
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 strips thick cut bacon, diced
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 T. tomato sauce of your choice
• 3 T. parsley
• spray of olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 and place a rack in the upper third of your oven.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, add the diced bacon and cook until a good amount of fat has been rendered out, about 1 tablespoon or so.  Add the diced onion and the garlic and cook until the onion is translucent and the bacon is crispy.  Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

Combine everything except for olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.  Use about 1 T. of mixture per scoop and roll into meatballs.  Place the formed meatballs into a large baking dish about one inch apart. (should make about 12 meatballs)

Spray the tops of the meatballs.  Place into your preheated oven, and bake for 13-15 minutes.

Pasta with Garlic Spinach (source: back of the new star fresh spinach bag)

• 1/3 box of angel hair pasta (4oz)
• 1 T. olive oil
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 5 handfuls spinach
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 C. Parmesan cheese
• splash of skim milk  
• 1 tomato diced

Make pasta according to package. 

In a large pan, heat oil over medium high heat, add garlic and stir until slightly browned. Add spinach, turning with tongs until it is wilted. Season with salt and pepper.

Add spinach to cooked pasta. Add 1/4 C. Parmesan cheese and a splash of milk. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper again to taste. Stir in tomatoes. Serve with chicken bacon meatballs and Enjoy!

I'm the only one who likes tomatoes so I added them last