Tasty, Tiny Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti - A Crowd-Pleasing Meal

Cooking for a crowd takes planning. You have to decide on the menu, make a grocery list, check the plates and silverware, get extra chairs, and clear refrigerator shelves. Spaghetti is a good menu choice because everyone likes it. Kids like to slurp noodles and adults like to twirl them with a fork. Shaking on Parmesan cheese is also fun.

I usually make spaghetti sauce from scratch, but when I'm pressed for time, I buy the healthiest kind I can find. I look for the sauce with the least amount of salt and high fructose corn syrup. My family likes sauce with the meat incorporated into it. Every so often, however, I make meat balls. We like small ones, not the huge kind that contain too much bread and hit your stomach like a rock.

Yesterday I came up with this recipe for tiny meatballs. Instead of chopping onions, which always makes me cry, I used onion powder. To cut down on the fat, I precooked the meatballs in the oven. I simmered the sauce on my stove top, but you may do it in a slow cooker. Set the cooker on low and cook the sauce for 3-4 hours. If you're going to freeze the meatballs, bake them for about 15minutes, cool them, and freeze in a carton or plastic zipper bag.
Serve this dish with garlic toast and tossed green salad. For an easy dessert, put out low-fat vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, assorted berries, whipped topping, and let guests make their own sundaes. See, you can cook for a crowd!

Ingredients
2 jars tomato-basil sauce

1 pound 90% lean ground beef

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 teaspoon lower sodium salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 cup egg substitut

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour tomato-basil sauce into a soup kettle. Cover a jelly roll pan with nonstick stick aluminum foil. Using a fork, gently combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Shape the meat into small, 3/4-inch balls. Set them on the jelly roll pan and bake for about 10 minutes, or until they are done inside. Remove balls and add them to the tomato-basil sauce. Cover and simmer on low for 20-30 minutes, stirring a couple of times to prevent the meat from sticking to the pan. Cook pasta while sauce is simmering. Ladle pasta into individual bowls and top with sauce. Pass grated Parmesas cheese. Makes at least 10 servings.