Risoni Meatball One Tray Bake
Risoni isn’t usually the first choice when it comes to pasta options, as demonstrated by it being the last man standing on the shelves during lockdown panic buying. Half rice, half pasta it can be an unusual one to work out. Since having a baby and having a lot less time to get dinner sorted, risoni has become the perfect addition to a one pot wonder. It holds its shape well, absorbs all the flavour and can be added into the dish before popping into the oven for a few hours and forgetting all about it!
This one tray bake is a perfect option for little ones from the beginning of their solids journey. It has finger food sized meat balls, which are perfect for little palms to grab and the risoni is a great texture to stick to a preloaded spoon. If you’re more comfortable with bub having a mashed texture just fork mash your meat balls through the risoni.
You can also portion up any leftovers into baby friendly serving sizes and store in the freezer for those times you need a meal in a hurry!
Risoni meatball one tray bake
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 500g of minced meat
- 1/2 small onion finely diced or even grated for bubs new to solids
- ½ med zucchini finely grated
- 1 clove of garlic or 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
- ½ cup of breadcrumbs
- 1 small carrot finely grated
- 1 egg (or 2 flax eggs to make egg free)
- ground pepper
Red sauce:
- 1 x 800g can of diced tomatoes
- ½ small onion diced
- 1 x small can of tomato paste (roughly 120g)
- 2 tablespoons of Italian herb mix
- 1 teaspoon of minced garlic or 1 fresh clove minced
- 1 packet of frozen spinach
- 1 cup of salt reduced/no salt stock (can use water)
- 1 cup of risoni pasta
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius
- In a bowl, mix all of your ingredients for the meatballs together before rolling into balls and playcing in your baking dish.
- Cook meat balls until browned in the oven. This step is important as it helps to bind the meatballs and help them keep their shape.
- In a bowl, mix together the ingredients for your red sauce
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and sprinkle your risoni over the meatballs
- Now gently pour your red sauce over the top
- Pour your cup of stock or water over the top of the dish
- Return the tray to the oven and bake for 30-45minutes
Serving suggestions:
This is great with fresh basil and parmesan cheese for adults and any older kids at the table. You could serve this dish with a side of Italian style green beans drizzled with olive oil, garlic and a squeeze of lemon juice.
I need to to thank you for this good read!! I certainly loved every bit of it. I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you postÖ
Is it 1 cup cooked risoni or 1 cup dry risoni?