Recipe: Szechuan Meatballs and Pasta

This week's recipe is for Szechuan meatballs and pasta. It was overall very delicious, very filling, and there was quite a bit left over after the fact, even with two people eating it.

For those of you who don't know what Szechuan is, it's a sort of cuisine from China. It is most well known in America for the eponymous Szechuan Sauce that you can find lying around your local food procurement center, if you are lucky.

Anyways. These are the things you will need for making this dish, in no particular order...

1 box of pasta

1 pound of ground beef/turkey/soylent green

4 cups Nappa cabbage (Also known as Chinese cabbage, even though it cannot produce documentation verifying its nationality.)

Some fresh garlic

Crushed red pepper

Some salt, chinese five spice spice, and other spices

1/4 cup Szechuan sauce

4 tablespoons cooking oil

2 green onions

1 cup beef broth

2 tablespoons corn starch

To begin with, you'll want to mix the meat with your salt, Chinese five spice spice, and 1 tablespoon of corn starch. Use a fork or other implement and mix thoroughly, and then use 1-2 tablespoons of the mixture to make meatballs. Should make 10-15 meatballs without a problem.

You'll also want to cut up your Nappa cabbage, green onions, and mix the beef broth with the other tablespoon of corn starch before continuing.

Next, heat 2 tablespoons of your cooking oil in a pan and add the meatballs. You'll want to brown them on both sides, turning them only once to make sure they don't break apart. We're not making Szechuan ground meat, after all. This should take 2-5 minutes, depending on your stove and your patience.

(They do not need to be completely cooked at this point. They will be cooked more thoroughly later in the recipe, while soaking in the sauce. Don't be afraid to take them off a little underdone.)

When they're done, remove them from the pan, clean it, and heat the other 2 tablespoons of oil. Add your garlic and red pepper flakes, as well as any other spices you might desire. Let this cook for a few seconds, then add your Szechuan sauce, the beef broth and cornstarch mixture, and Nappa cabbage. Cook until the cabbage starts to wilt, again 2-5 minutes.

After the cabbage is getting all wilty, add your meatballs back in, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until sauce looks and seems a bit thicker than it was.

While the sauce, cabbage, and meatballs are simmering, cook your pasta. I shouldn't have to tell you how at this point, but if you really need to know, just boil some water and pour it out on one of your feet. Really. After doing so, just take a careful look at your pasta box and you should know how fairly quickly.

And now, you're done. Simply put the desired amount of pasta on a plate, pour some sauce, cabbage, and meatballs on top of it, and enjoy.

As a warning, this is rather spicy, so you might want to avoid making it if you are sensitive to that sort of thing. Or just get ready to chug some milk and eat some white bread.

Comments, insults, and suggestions can be dumped down below on your way out. I hoped you enjoyed the recipe, and let me know how it tastes if you try it, will you?