This Tuscan meatball pasta is full of big flavours! The decadent sauce is made with cream, garlic, parmesan, sun dried tomatoes and Italian herbs. These delicious flavours get soaked up by the pappardelle pasta and beef meatballs.
A few years ago ago I created an easy Tuscan Chicken recipe. I couldn't have predicted quite how popular it would be!
With those bold flavours in mind, I have since created my delicious Tuscan Meatball Pasta recipe. For this meal, I've added thick pappardelle pasta to soak up the beautiful sauce. Serve with freshly grated parmesan and Italian parsley.
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Ingredient notes:
- Pasta: Feel free to use your favourite type of fresh or dried pasta in this recipe. I like the wide, flat pappardelle pasta for soaking up sauce flavours.
- Sun dried tomatoes: A great item to have in your fridge at all times, sun dried tomatoes offer a salty hit to the base of a sauce.
- Italian herbs: This is another one of my pantry staples. Italian herbs are dried and usually consist of a combination of basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card for the ingredients, quantities and the full method.
Step by step instructions:
Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente.
Add olive oil to a large frying pan and brown the meatballs on a medium heat for a few minutes on each side.
Make a gap in the centre of the pan and add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and Italian herbs. Pour in beef stock and deglaze the pan.
Add spinach and stir everything together, simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the meatballs are cooked through.
Pour in cream and sprinkle over parmesan, keep stirring for a few minutes until the sauce starts to thicken up.
Add the cooked pasta to the frying pan and stir to coat in the creamy sauce.
Serve immediately topped with extra parmesan and fresh herbs.
Recipe FAQs:
For convenience I like to use pre-made meatballs from the supermarket for this dish. I generally buy beef meatballs but you could use beef and pork or even lamb. If you have mince to use up, feel free to make your own from scratch. I have a great recipe for Italian Meatballs you can use as a guide, with whichever mince you prefer.
Al dente is an Italian phrase used in relation to cooking pasta. It literally means 'to the tooth' which means the pasta should have a slight bite to it. The perfect pasta is cooked to the point where it is neither hard, nor soft and squishy but with a small amount of resistance at the centre - aka al dente!
Yes! Almost all types of cooked pasta can be frozen. Place pasta and sauce in an airtight container in the freezer for up three months. Allow to defrost then reheat in the microwave or on the stove top, adding a little liquid if required.
Storage:
Store leftover meatballs and pasta, covered, in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat until piping hot.
Top tips:
If parmesan cheese is too expensive, you can use tasty cheese instead.
Related Recipes:
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Tuscan Meatball Pasta
Meatballs and pasta in a creamy tuscan sauce made with cream, sun dried tomatoes and Italian herbs.
Ingredients
- 250g pappardelle pasta
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 400g beef meatballs
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, finely sliced
- 1 Tbsp Italian herbs
- 1 cup beef stock
- 70g baby spinach
- ½ cup cream
- 30g parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente.
- Add olive oil to a large frying pan and brown the meatballs on a medium heat for a few minutes on each side.
- Make a gap in the centre of the pan and add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and Italian herbs. Pour in beef stock and deglaze the pan.
- Add spinach and stir everything together, simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the meatballs are cooked through.
- Pour in cream and sprinkle over parmesan, keep stirring for a few minutes until the sauce starts to thicken up.
- Add the cooked pasta to the frying pan and stir to coat in the creamy sauce.
- Serve immediately topped with extra parmesan and fresh herbs.
Notes
- Pappardelle could be swapped out for dried pasta like fettuccine or tagliatelle.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 393Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 94mgSodium: 532mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 17g
Nutritional values are approximate. Please use your own calculations if you require a special diet.
Thank you for checking out this recipe. I hope you enjoy making and eating it! If you have any questions, queries or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
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Vanya
Lauren says
This was so delicious and really easy! My kids loved it!! YUMMO! Definitely going on the meal rotation.
VJ cooks says
That's awesome! Thank you for the feedback, Lauren 🙂
Stefanie says
I made this for dinner last night but i doubled the recipe so my partner and I could have some to take to work and this was even so yummy cold!! instead of using the pasta in the recipe i used curly Fettuccini instead and it was a hit with everyone.
VJ cooks says
How good?! I love that you adapted the recipe to use your favourite pasta. The recipe is just a guide!