We used to host a lot of dinner parties. But as our friends grew their families or moved away, our hosting activities have mostly become smaller get-togethers with family at holidays.
We spent Christmas in California with my family this year, which meant most of the cooking duties were left in their very capable hands. It was fantastic to sit back and relax while eating incredible food, rather than frantically running around the kitchen, monitoring multiple timers for things on the stove or in the oven, and hoping I remembered to finish setting the table.
Seeing as we got off easy at Christmas, we decided to have a small, early New Year’s Eve party last weekend. My husband is like a kid in the candy store when we have a party because it means one thing to him – he gets to cook meat! You see, I don’t allow meat in the house except when we have guests. I realize how that may sound to a lot of people, but that’s just the way it is.
I think few things give my husband more pleasure than pouring over cookbooks searching for his next culinary challenge, shopping for the meat, making the rub, “dry aging” it in the fridge, etc. And because he cooks it so infrequently, he usually serves up two meat courses.
Based on past experience, I know what this means for me. Since he pretty much charts the course for the meal, he will ask me to make a salad and a vegetable dish. But when the party starts, he inevitably cancels the salad course, claiming everyone is too full of appetizers and wine by then, and they need to save what appetite they have left for his star creations.
About half the time, my vegetable course is similarly dispensed with. So this time, I decided to make something that he and even guests who are barely vegetable-tolerant would want to eat. I thought these spinach balls, if properly coated with marinara sauce, might even be mistaken for meat balls! Note: they can be served as a main course or as a side dish.
After the party started, true to form, my husband announced we would be skipping the salad course. I have to admit that the guests were probably relieved as they were more interested in Alex’s offerings than eating salad just to appease me.
The spinach ball course, however, survived! I made these earlier in the day so my husband could have the oven all afternoon. My only request was that he put the balls back in the oven before dinner so they would be piping hot, and to re-heat the tomato sauce as well. Guess what never happened…… Luckily, even at room temperature, these spinach balls were delicious!
I’m guessing that most non-meat eaters who are married to meat lovers go through a similar thing. But here’s how I look at it: Life is short, so if cooking meat a couple times a year makes my husband happy, I’ll just sit back and watch him do it – with a smile, as I know how much he is enjoying himself. I’ll deal with the vegan guilt later……
A Happy & Healthy New Year to Everyone!
Ingredients
1 16-ounce package frozen spinach
1/2 onion – small dice
3 garlic cloves – minced
1/3 c. pine nuts (optional)
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese (or another 1/3 cup grated parmesan)
2-3 cups tomato sauce
2-3 tbsp. canola oil
¼ tsp. chili pepper flakes
sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Sautee the diced onions and pepper flakes in oil for about 5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and sautee another 3 minutes.
- Place spinach in a microwave safe bowl and cook for about 3 minutes (stir every minute to ensure even cooking) until thawed.
- Place thawed spinach on a dish towel, wrap into a ball, and squeeze out excess water.
- Place the drained spinach in a bowl. Add the pecorino cheese, ricotta cheese and onions. Mix well. Add pine nuts (optional) to the mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Coat a baking dish with a light layer of cooking spray.
- Place about 2 tablespoons of spinach mixture in your hands and form into a tightly compacted ball.
- Roll each spinach ball in the finely grated parmesan cheese until coated, using your fingers to lightly press the cheese onto the balls. I like to use a microplane to get a very fine grating of cheese.
- Arrange spinach balls in baking dish and sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese on top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes.
- Serve with heated tomato sauce. Garnish with pine nuts – optional.
Gary says
I’ve made this wonderful dish a few times now. Excellent flavor!
Amy says
I’m so glad it’s worked out for you! Thanks for stopping by, Gary!