weeknight dinners: tomato, mozarella, basil pasta with meatballs

This recipe consists of nothing but the ingredients listed in the title of this post.. it's pretty straightforward. We are trying to use up some of the quarantine pasta that Harrison hoarded before all this started, and I was shocked at his enthusiasm for angel hair pasta - I truly thought he purchased it because it must have been the last non-perishable on grocery shelves. I'm no connoisseur but isn't that actually the last pasta anyone would choose for literally anything? Harrison couldn't believe I was so thrown by his choice and tried to convince me that I'm the only one who would choose bucatini as my sole food if I was stranded on a desert island, but I felt validated at Whole Foods this weekend strolling down the pasta aisle to find it completely picked over minus a few boxes of angel hair. Looks like even in desperate times the rest of the world leaves behind the angel hair.

Anyway. Here's the recipe: 

Servings: 2 

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

For the pasta

• 8 oz pasta (half a box) of your choice. As you know I would choose bucatini and Harrison would choose angel hair. It works either way.
• 4 oz fresh mozzarella (this really depends on how much cheese you want, do what feels right), cubed into little half inch cubes
• 8 oz grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 handful of fresh basil, chopped
• 2 TBS Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese to taste

For the meatballs

• .5 lb ground pork (or ground beef/turkey works too)
• 1 egg
• 1 TBS Italian Seasoning
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Pull it together

• Step 1: Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package
• Step 2: While the pasta cooks, combine the meat, egg and seasonings in a medium sized bowl.
• Step 3: Form the meat into balls (2-3" around) and place onto a plate.
• Step 4: Heat 1 TBS Olive Oil in a medium size frying pan.
• Step 5: Add the meatballs to the pan, cover, and cook for about 10 mins turning occasionally (or until cooked all the way through - depends on the meat you're using)
• Step 6: Once your pasta is cooked/drained, toss with remaining olive oil, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, salt, and pepper. Top with parmesan, and serve with the meatballs.

Hot Tips:

• If saving the second serving for leftovers, I recommend keeping the ingredients separate so you can reheat the pasta and meatballs tomorrow and then add on the TMB because those things are better cold. Unless you're into cold pasta - no judgement here because sometimes in desperate times I eat bucatini with just olive oil and salt. (If you never worked in a restaurant and had to take hundreds of orders for tomato mozzarella basil sandwiches - TMB is insider shorthand for Tomato Mozzarella Basil 😎) 
• Highly recommend drinking wine with this dish. Any wine.