Pasta Bucatini With Bacon Sauce and Meatballs

Submitted by Paulas Pleasers

"Bucatini Pasta (like Spaghetti) with Bacon Sauce and Turkey and Sausage Meatballs"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 8-12

ingredients

• Bacon Sauce

• 7 -8 slices regular bacon
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Meatballs

• oil, for greasing pan
• 1 1⁄2 lbs ground turkey, plus
• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 3⁄4 cup breadcrumbs (made from day old Italian bread)
• 3⁄4 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
• 3⁄4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
• 2 -3 garlic cloves, minced (not too fine)
• 2 eggs
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb bucatini pasta

directions

1. Directions.
2. For the bacon sauce: Cut the bacon into pieces. Using a big saute pan or skillet that has a cover, cook over medium heat until almost crispy. Don't drain the fat. Add the onions to the pan. When the onions are almost cooked and start to become translucent, add the garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, and then add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer on low for about an hour to an hour and a half.
3. For the meatballs: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, sausage, breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, garlic, eggs and some salt and pepper. Form into 1 to 1 1/2-inch meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Make sure to turn every few minutes to brown on all sides.
4. Cook the bucatini according to the package directions.
5. Serve the bacon sauce over the pasta with the meatballs on the side. Garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Reviews

[escripps]

My family saw this on Food Network over the weekend and we made this for dinner on Saturday night. It was really good, we would totally make this again. Also, the one thing that is missing from the original recipe is the addition of "56 ounces ground tomatoes, such as Pastene Chunky Kitchen Ready" to be added at the end of the sauce recipe.