This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla, however, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive sentiments towards Barilla or their products.

You know that feeling you get when you’re eating something that encompasses your tastes from your youth and combines them with your adult palate… That’s how I feel about my chipotle albondigas and spaghetti. It’s just so good, that the entire table falls silent when I serve it. I swear I’m not sounding my own siren, I’m just giving you the facts. It’s the albondigas in spicy chipotle sauce that remind me of my days as a teenager eating with my Grandpa, and the thick spaghetti cooked al dente that plays to my adult happiness.

A few weeks ago I flew to the Barilla headquarters in Chicago and was lucky enough to cook in their kitchen. I felt like Charlie in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I was given carte blanche to anything in the fridge and pantry, and told I had 40 minutes to make something…. and that something had to BE GOOD!  When I heard that I had an itsy-bitsy anxiety attack. I quickly scanned the fridge and found ground beef and ground pork… I immediately thought of my Grandpa’s albondigas and how he mixes the two meats. I went to the pantry and sure enough they had some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce on hand, and I then knew exactly what I was making, suddenly I felt all the little ghost butterflies exiting my stomach. I ran over to the area where the wall of Barilla pasta resides with confidence and looked carefully over the many varieties before I settled on a thick spaghetti. I just love that Barilla delivers a trusted product of superior quality, providing me with pasta that does not stick or clump and a flavor that compliments my traditional Hispanic ingredients. Here’s my recipe so you can make it at home. I made it for friends this past weekend, and the table was silent.

Ingredients for Chipotle Albondigas And Barilla Spaghetti:

• 1 – pound ground beef
• 1 – pound ground pork
• 1 – egg
• 1/4 – cup bread crumbs
• 4 – cloves garlic (peeled and minced small)
• 1 – teaspoon chile flakes
• 1/2 – teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 – cup fresh cilantro leaves (chopped)
• 9 – springs of green onion (white part only – minced)
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 – tablespoons olive oil
• 1 – cup onion (chopped)
• 4 – cups chopped tomatoes
• 2 – chipotle peppers (minced)
• 1 1/2 – tablespoons adobo sauce
• 1 – cup tomato sauce
• 1 – pound Barilla thick spaghetti (no.7)
• parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine ground beef, ground pork, egg, bread crumbs, garlic, chile flakes, dried oregano, cilantro leaves, green onion, salt and pepper with your hands. Once mixture is combined, pinch a small amount of meat into a ball and roll to create meatball. Roll all meat until you have about 20 meatballs.
2. In a large pan over a medium flame add in olive oil and allow it to get hot.
3. Add in meatballs and brown on all sides for about 10 minutes. 
4. Add in onion to meatballs and saute for about 3 minutes. 
5. Then add in tomatoes, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, and tomato sauce. Mix to combine. Allow to cook another 2 to 3 minutes. 
6. While albondigas (meatballs) are cooking bring a big pot filled halfway with water to a boil. Cook spaghetti to according to the box. 
7. Drain the pasta then add it to the meatball mixture. 
8. Mix it and serve in a big platter.
9. Garnish with parmesan cheese. 
10. Enjoy!

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla, however, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive sentiments towards Barilla or their products.

I always knew when we were going to have steak picado in my house. My grandfather who was a butcher for most of his working life would bring home a sirloin steak and cut it into cubes. This ritual was usually followed with him chopping up bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños. A little drizzle of oil would carefully get circled into the hot pan and then a sizzle of raw meat quickly followed as it touched the scorching cast iron pan. I would unfailingly offer my services, and he would respond by telling me ” just sit down and keep me company, or you can wash the dishes as I cook.” I would do a little of both, as I looked over my shoulder trying to learn the tricks of the trade. He was such a creature of habit with the routine sprinkle of spices on the meat… a pinch of cumin, oregano, and salt.  While the meat simmered he would start on the rest of the meal and make a starch as an accompaniment, usually a pan of refried beans. At the time I wasn’t a fan of beans, so considering that I was his co-pilot (or as my aunts and uncles referred to me: spoiled granddaughter ) he would make me a small side of fideo, or conchas, or estrellas to eat with my soon to be made steak picado. That’s the way I came to love it as a young kid, and still crave the pasta companion to this day with my steak picado. A few years ago, I decided instead of making the pasta on the side, why not add it directly into the steak picado? This would allow for the pasta to soak up all the flavor of the liquid and I would be able to satisfy the best of both worlds in one pot. Fortunately for me Barilla has a wide selection of high quality pastas to choose from, sometimes I may add a handful of cut spaghetti, or stelline (little stars), or shells, or elbows, or collezione. They all work and they all have that special taste that takes me right back to being a little girl eating steak picado and pasta with my Grandpa.

Ingredients for Steak Picado Pasta:

• 2 to 3 pounds sirloin steak (cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1/2 – teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 – teaspoon salt
• 1/2 – teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 – teaspoon black pepper
• 2 – tablespoons olive oil
• 1 – onion (chopped)
• 1 – yellow bell pepper (sliced into 1/2 inch pieces)
• 1 – red bell pepper (sliced into 1/2 inch pieces)
• 2 – jalapeños (stems removed – sliced in half)
• 5 – garlic cloves (roughly chopped)
• 4 – tomatoes (chopped)
• 3 – bay leaves
• 1/2 – teaspoon chile flakes
• 2 – cups beef broth
• 1/2 – pound Barilla pasta (I used collezione)

Directions:

1. Add meat to bowl and sprinkle with cumin, salt, oregano, and black pepper. Mix with hands. 
2. In a large cast iron pan or dutch oven over a medium high flame add in olive oil. Allow to get hot.
3. Add in cubed steak and sear on each side until browned about 2 minutes. Remove meat from pan and set to the side. 
4. In the same pan sauté onion, yellow bell pepper, red bell pepper, jalapeños, and garlic for about 10 minutes or until onion is slightly translucent. 
5. Add in tomatoes and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
6. Add browned meat back to the pan with sautéed veggies. Mix to combine. 
7. Add in bay leaves, chile flakes, and beef broth. The broth should just barely cover the meat. 
8. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover with a lid, and lower the flame to a simmer. Cook for 40 minutes.
9. When the meat is close to being done, cook pasta according to box. 
10. Then remove from water and add directly into steak picado. 
11. Mix it in to combine. 
12. Serve and enjoy!

Follow my pasta dishes with these hashtags:  #PastaATúEstilo and #ItsPossibleWithBarilla

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla, however,  my opinions are entirely my own, and I have not been paid to publish positive sentiments towards Barilla or their products.

There are some foods that take your breath away and transport you to another place. That’s what pasta does for me. It reminds me of all the marvelous food journeys I’ve been on. It transports me to the streets of Italy where I happily found myself in pasta heaven many moons ago. It takes me to the kitchen of my friend Andrea who cooks the most fantastic Italian food, as he is Italian (from Perugia, Italy) and quite an amazing chef. It takes me to my grandfather’s cocina who latin-ized pasta for me at a young age with a bowl of fideo (broken spaghetti). Barilla pasta brings me into my own kitchen where I weave all these memories into my personalized creations. I say Barilla pasta because it is my brand of choice and has been for as long as I can remember.

I have been creating recipes using Barilla since before I started this blog, so you can only imagine my excitement when I was contacted on behalf of Barilla to join forces with them as a spokesperson along with two other lovely ladies. I swear I was giddy. I quickly imagined myself swimming in a pool of pasta, okay maybe not a pool but at least indulging in a bucket of macaroni elbows.

Two weeks ago I traveled to Chicago to visit the Barilla headquarters. I didn’t quite swim in a pool of pasta but I did learn some interesting tips from the house chefs about pasta, and it turns out, I had been doing a few things wrong all this time. For instance, I would always run my pasta under cold water after I had boiled it, and I learned from Chef Lorenzo to take it straight from the boiling water and into the sauce instead. He also taught me to under cook the pasta by two or three minutes then place it in a sauce and allow it to finish cooking in the sauce for the remainder of the time. Chef Lorenzo made us a lovely spaghetti dish and a spectacular creamy béchamel spinach lasagna. We (myself, Alejandra Ramos from Always Order Dessert, and Laura Muller from Las Recetas De Laura) got an additional lesson from Top Chef Carlos Gaytan (pictured below) who made a few amazing latin pasta dishes, penne in a chicken tinga that was loaded with chipotle peppers, and a spicy jalapeno macaroni salad topped with squash blossoms. After that lesson/tasting I knew why he was on Top Chef! It was inspiring and fueled me with a continued desire to experiment ala latin pasta for my family and friends. I feel confident when I use Barilla that my pasta is not going to clump or stick, and it’s superior quality and taste will act as a blank canvas for my traditional Hispanic ingredients. My grandfather’s influence has really left an imprint on how I approach pasta in the kitchen…always with a latin flair.

I am proud to announce that I am an official spokesperson of Barilla pasta and will be creating some additional pasta dishes on their behalf! Follow my pasta journey with these hashtags:  #PastaATúEstilo and #ItsPossibleWithBarilla I promise it’s going to be delicious.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla, however,  my opinions are entirely my own, and I have not been paid to publish positive sentiments towards Barilla or their products.