Farmhouse Recipe for Spaghetti & Meatballs with Fresh Breadsticks

From the kitchen of John Nye.

Spaghetti & Meatballs with Fresh Breadsticks

Ingredients

• 2 lb. Ground Beef
• 2 Eggs
• 1 cup Bread Crumbs
• 1 tsp. Black Pepper
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder

Directions

Meatballs

1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together until everything is well combined.
2. Using a small cookie scoop (or your hands), form meatballs and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet. You should have about 24 meatballs.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
4. You can store the meatballs in the freezer until needed if you like.

Next Steps

1. Open three 24-ounce cans of your favorite pasta sauce and pour into a slow cooker.
2. Add meatballs and 6 ounces of pepperoni.
3. Cover and set to low heat. Allow to heat for at least four hours.
4. Cook 1-1/2 pounds of spaghetti noodles according to label directions. Drain.
5. Serve sauce over hot noodles and top with LOTS of parmesan cheese.
   
   

Fresh Breadsticks

Ingredients

• 2-½ cups Flour
• 1 Tbs Yeast (or one package)
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 2 Tbs. Olive Oil
• 1 cup Warm Water
• 2 Tbs. Melted Butter
• Parmesan cheese, enough to sprinkle

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. You don’t need to proof the yeast for this recipe, just dump everything together. Mix well with a wooden spoon. It’s fine to knead the dough a bit, but not necessary.
2. Let rest for five minutes.
3. Roll or pull the dough out on a lightly greased baking sheet. These breadsticks are better if left a bit thick.
4. Spread melted butter on top of the dough.
5. Sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese.
6. Slice into half-inch strips with a pizza cutter.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot with spaghetti.

From the Farmhouse

Whether it was pancakes and bacon on Sunday morning or spaghetti and meatballs for lunch between chores on the dairy, Jeff Nye didn’t care if you left the dinner table happy, as long as you didn’t leave hungry.

“He loved food of the world, loved visiting with people and insisted on feeding lunch to everyone who was working or visiting the dairy that day,” said his daughter-in-law Maria Nye.

“You were expected to be there ready to eat.”

Jeff grew up in New England, served in the military for several years and had a 30-year career as an extension agent for the University of Connecticut beginning in 1959. His circle of influence in agriculture became international when he began hosting annual farm tours in 1972 across the United States as well as in South America, Europe, Africa, Canada, and more.

On one such tour, he visited Millard County and suggested his son and daughter-in-law move their Connecticut dairy to Delta, Utah. John and Maria accepted the challenge and relocated 450 cows to build a dairy from the ground up testing all of Jeff’s philosophies he’d preached for decades. Today, the operation has expanded and the next generation of Nye’s have joined to help milk more than 3,000 cows.

“New England is a wonderful place to farm, but not if you’re looking to expand as much as we have,” Maria said. “This area is dairy friendly and of course family-friendly. Everything is as it should be now.”

Submitted by John Nye and originally published in the IFA Cooperator magazine (vol. 82, no. 2) Summer 2016.