Sunday Dinner

I haven't done Sunday dinner in awhile and now I remember why. Not that I don't love having my family over, but it's exhausting to cook such a big meal. I'm beat!

I made spaghetti and meatballs using Lidia's recipe, which basically calls for meatloaf mix, bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, garlic, eggs, salt and pepper all mashed together, formed into meatballs, coated with flour, fried in vegetable oil and then cooked in tomato sauce. I made a simple sauce using some diced carrot, garlic and onion (I would have used celery had we had some), sauteed in some olive oil. Then I added whole peeled tomatoes that I had processed into crushed tomatoes. I threw in some fresh basil leaves and a few dried bay leaves and let it simmer for a few hours.



I also made garlic bread with cheese using mozzarella, cheddar and Pecorino. I had made garlic and parsley butter earlier by mashing some softened butter with garlic paste and some minced parsley. I spread the butter over both halves of a French baguette and then topped the halves with a mixture of all three cheeses. A quick run under the broiler melted the cheese.



My mother-in-law brought an antipasto from the local pizza parlor that included chopped Romaine, hot peppers, olives, diced ham, pepperoni, provolone cheese, fresh mozzarella and tomato. We ate the antipasto as an appetizer before the big meal.



I also made some homemade pita chips to serve with hummus. I made the chips by taking pita pockets and cutting them in half to separate the layers. I brushed the rough sides with some olive oil and cut them into triangles. I put the pieces onto the toaster oven baking sheet and sprinkled kosher salt on top. They baked at 350 degrees until the pita became crispy.



I also served a regular salad with dinner - just your basic chopped salad with Romaine, minced red onion, shredded carrot, grape tomatoes and diced red pepper. We dressed it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.