Wild Idea Buffalo Recipe of the Week - PAPPARDELLE AND PESTO MEATBALLS

This week's Wild Idea Buffalo Recipe of the Week - PAPPARDELLE AND PESTO MEATBALLS. Take your Spaghetti and Meatballs to a new level by using Pappardelle Noodles in place of the Spaghetti and by making Buffalo Meatballs in place of the normal Meatballs you use. Also included is a Tomato Sauce and Pesto sauce recipes. To make the Meatballs you'll be using Wild Idea Ground Buffalo. You can find this recipe and purchase the Wild Idea Ground Buffalo all at the Wild idea Buffalo website. You can purchase any of the Wild Idea Buffalo cuts of meats at the Wild Idea site. Enjoy and Eat Healthy!   https://wildideabuffalo.com/

PAPPARDELLE AND PESTO MEATBALLS

A fresh spin on traditional spaghetti and meatballs. Pappardelle (pronounced; Pop a dell a) noodles although egg based, are mostly very light, but this will depend on the brand you can find. My favorites are Rustichella D’arbruzzo or DeCecco. This recipe is a wonderful combination of flavors. For a complete meal I accompanied this dish with a Citrus Salad with Orange Chev Vinaigrette (recipe included with purchase upon request) and crusty bread.  Great for a family style dinner - that kids will love, or sophisticated enough to serve at your next dinner party.

All the components make this recipe seem complicated, but the preparation is very easy and does not take a lot of time. For a super short-cut, you could buy ready-made pesto. Bon Appetito!

Meatball Ingredients:
1 – pound Wild Idea Ground Buffalo
1 – teaspoon salt
1 – teaspoon black pepper
1/3 – cup pesto (recipe follows)
4 – ounces fresh Mozzarella, torn or shredded
olive oil
melted butter

Preparation:

* Break ground buffalo apart in a pie pan or bowl, and press out flat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
* Spoon pesto over the top of the meat and cover with the shredded mozzarella.
* Fold the meat into itself and mix together with hands until all ingredients are equally distributed.
* Form meat into silver dollar sized meatballs, or size of your liking and place on lightly oiled baking sheet.
* Chill meatballs for one hour in the refrigerator.
* Position oven rack on top rung and preheat oven to broil.
* For best browning, brush chilled meat balls with a little melted butter.
* Broil meatballs for about 7 minutes or until browned. *For larger meatballs increase your cooking time based on size.

Quick Tomato Sauce Ingredients:
1 – 28oz. can whole stewed Italian tomatoes
1 – 28 oz. can crushed Italian tomatoes
1 – teaspoon garlic powder
1 – teaspoon crushed fennel
1 – teaspoon oregano
1 – teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 – teaspoon salt
1 – pinch chili flake
1 – lemon, juiced *1/4 cup
1 – teaspoon balsamic syrup
2 – tablespoons sugar

Preparation:

* In deep pot, over medium high heat, add stewed tomatoes and smash with a potato masher, breaking tomatoes into pieces.
* Add crushed tomatoes and bring to a light boil.
* Add remaining ingredients, stirring to incorporate.
* Reduce heat to simmer and allow tomato sauce to thicken, about 15 minutes or until desired consistency is achieved.
* Season to taste with a pinch more of salt and an additional squeeze of lemon or to your liking.

Pappardelle Ingredients:
12 – ounces Pappardelle
4 - quarts water
2 – tablespoons salt
1/2 – cup pesto, or more if you prefer - room temperature

Preparation:

* Fill a large pot with water and salt and bring to a boil.
* Add Pappardelle to the pot and cook uncovered for 7 minutes.
* Remove from heat and strain water from the pot, leaving about 1 to 2 tablespoons of water in the pot. Do not return to heat.
* Lightly warm pesto in microwave for 30 seconds.
* Add pesto to the Pappardelle and toss gently.

Other Recipe Ingredients:
½ - cup Italian parsley, chopped
Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved

Entrée Assembly:

* Place pesto coated Pappardelle on plates or in a bowl.
* Cover with tomato sauce and top with pesto meatballs.
* Garnish with parsley and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

Basil Pesto

*I am a non-pine-nut person. If you prefer them in your pesto, simply add them to the recipe. Recipe can easily be cut in half.

Ingredients:
2 - cups fresh basil leaves, packed
2 - cups shredded parmesan cheese
3 - garlic cloves, chopped
1 - teaspoon salt
1 – teaspoon pepper (*I like a little more)
1 - tablespoon lemon juice (*I like a little more)1 - cup olive oil

* Place all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth. Refrigerate unused amounts for another use (and there are many).
https://wildideabuffalo.com/blogs/recipes/pappardelle-and-pesto-meatballs