Mushroom + Eggplant Meatballs over Homemade Pappardelle

You can almost always tell how busy I am with work by looking at my blog. If it is neglected as it has been for the past week, you can rest assured that I am buried in assignments and deadlines. I'm one of the lucky ones: I love my job. Being extremely busy at work is what my dad calls "good problems."

Make no mistake: I never stop cooking or taking pictures of the dishes that I prepare. I simply run out of time to type up the recipe and come up with something halfway interesting to say about it. I have a backlog of beautiful photos of salads, soups, breakfasts, and pastas that I may get around to posting someday.

I spend time in the kitchen every day because cooking, for me, is the best stress relief there is. I love getting in the there and chopping, kneading, and creating. These tasks always crescendo into a delicious meal. (Okay, not always!) With that meal comes the time it takes to enjoy it sitting at the table at home. It feels relaxing even to describe it.

So, tonight we had meatballs over homemade pappardelle with red sauce. Here is how I made the meatballs:

1 beaten egg

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/3 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons tomato sauce (more for brushing)

2/3 cups panko

2 cups mushroom meat

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fold ingredients together. Don't overwork it. Using a medium ice cream scoop, drop one portion into the palm of your hand. Pass the ball back-and-forth between your palms until a roundish ball forms. Place ball onto a silpat-lined baking sheet. Repeat until mixture is used up. It should make 6-8 large meatballs. Bake for 20 minutes. Brush each meatball with tomato sauce and stick it back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes or until the tomato sauce has turned a deep red. Serve on pasta with fresh parsley and grated parmesan.