People often imagine pasta with meatballs as a heavy, time-consuming dish reserved for Sundays. In reality, with mini meatballs and a well-made tomato-cream sauce, this creamy rigatoni comes together easily on a weeknight. The burrata arrives at the end, fresh and melty, making it feel like a true trattoria dish without spending two hours in the kitchen.
Ingredients :
- Rigatoni — Rigatoni serve as the backbone of the dish: their ridges hold the sauce and their hollow shape sometimes catches a piece of meatball. Choose a short, sturdy pasta, definitely not too thin, and keep it al dente to avoid a mushy effect in the creamy sauce.
- Ground beef — It gives flavorful meatballs, with enough juice to stay tender after pan-frying. Use meat that is not too lean, around 15% fat if possible, or mix beef and veal for a softer texture.
- Breadcrumbs and egg — Breadcrumbs absorb the juice and the egg binds everything, preventing the mini meatballs from falling apart when browning. If the mixture is too sticky, add a pinch of breadcrumbs; if it seems dry, a few drops of cold water often suffice.
- Tomato paste — This gives the sauce its intense base, deeper than simple canned tomatoes. Cook it until it darkens slightly and smells almost like roasted tomato, but don’t burn it: bitterness will come quickly.
