Spaghetti Tacos!

Spaghetti Tacos. Hmm. Did I ever think I would ever be trying something like this? No. Not really. But here it is.

Spaghetti Tacos were made popular by a show on Nickelodeon called iCarly. I am (only slightly) embarrassed to say that I have, on occasion, watched this Tween show, and have discussed said show with my cousin-in-law who is 9 1/2 years younger than me and graduating from Syracuse University this year in the film arts or whatever, and is going to LA to work on children-based TV shows. It actually is a really cute show, and I enjoy folding laundry to it. Do I have kids to pawn this off on as to why I was watching it? No. I just like cheesy tween/teen shows. Haha.

So anyway, the main character, Carly, loves spaghetti tacos. It wasn't until I saw this article recently that I knew I had to make these and try them out. They are becoming a THING. Kids everywhere are asking for them. I am pretty sure spaghetti tacos popped up on one of the recipe websites I frequently visit, which also made me want to make these, but I can't remember which one and it wasn't coming up on my google search. Oh well!

Most of the recipes are pretty simple, like this one. I decided to make mine a little different. All I can say is, they were a little messy to eat, but they were SO delicious. Seriously. This is definitely becoming a staple in my family!!

I actually made mini meatballs instead of just browning some ground beef. And they were some spicy meatballs too, to try and keep with a "Mexican" theme. I also sauteed some peppers for something extra to stuff in the shells. I used Ronzoni Healthy Harvest spaghetti and Francisco Rinaldi tomato, garlic and onion sauce. Ortega Whole Grain Shells were the taco shells we picked up. I shredded some Parmesan cheese and we were ready to stuff!

I experimented stuffing in several ways. First we tried putting the spaghetti in, followed by the peppers, meatballs, Parmesan cheese and sauce. I also tried meatballs first, then peppers, spaghetti, sauce and Parmesan cheese. I think I liked that way the best. Lastly, we talked about doing it the same as the first way, except putting the sauce on the spaghetti before the meatballs and peppers.

This was a surprisingly tasty and fun meal for tonight. It was pretty easy to make too. I made the meatballs last night - they took me about 20 minutes or so. Today when I got home from work, I quickly sauteed the peppers, shredded the cheese and boiled the pasta.

Try this out - it's not as crazy as it seems!! See below for the meatball recipe I used!

Spicy Mini Meatballs (makes about 18)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb 93% ground beef
garlic powder
black pepper
Italian seasoning
crushed red pepper flakes
panko bread crumbs
1/4 of a medium onion - chopped fine

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients into the beef well. All ingredients are "too taste," though I'd say about 1/3 cup of bread crumbs.

The bread crumbs are used to hold the meatballs together.

Form your mixture into small balls, like the size of small walnuts, or slightly bigger than those gumballs you can buy in the supermarkets!

Bake meatballs at 375 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes, then simmer in sauce of choice for about 10.