Baked Spaghetti (angle hair) Cup with meatballs オーブン焼きスパゲッティカップ

My wife saw the original recipe for this dish on the Washington Post website but she made substantial changes. She really was sold on the idea of making pasta cups and stuffing them with something. We usually do not keep spaghetti on hand but we do keep angel hair pasta in the pantry. I had just made pork meatballs with ricotta cheese as well as some marinara sauce to use on pizza. So my wife came up with the idea of taking the angel hair pasta we had, tossing it with the marinara sauce I just made and using it to make “spaghetti” cups. Then since we already had the meat balls, using them to stuff the spaghetti cups and topping them with cheese. (In the original recipe, the pasta cups are made with spaghetti are stuffed with ground turkey and broccoli). In any case, her idea worked well.  We were expecting the pasta cups to be crispy outside but it did not happen and they tasted like regular pasta with marinara sauce. This was basically pasta with meatballs in marinara sauce in compact basket form.  I served this with chicken wing simmered in black vinegar (I happened to make this dish for other reasons) and small green salad with cucumber and Campari tomato. I ask my wife to continue.

Ingredients:
6 ounces cooked angle hair pasta 
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce, (or to taste)
12 meat balls cut in half (if cooking in mini muffin tins that make 24 small muffins or 24 if using whole meatballs). 
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup (3/4 ounce) grated parmesan cheese (or more to taste)
various cheeses to top the pasta cups (we used smoked gouda and sharp cheddar 
Salt to taste

Directions:
Cook the angle hair pasta according to package instructions. After it is drained toss it with the homemade marinara sauce. Add the egg and toss until the egg is incorporated. Add the grated parmesan cheese and toss until fully mixed with the pasta. 

When ready to make the spaghetti cups, position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Put the paper liners in the small bite muffin tin. Distribute the pasta into the wells of the muffin tin, creating a divot in the center of each to hold the meatball (#1). Distribute the meatballs among the spaghetti cups (it’s okay if it comes above the top of the wells) (#2). Cover the meatballs with the gouda/cheddar cheeses (#3). Bake until nicely browned, 20 to 30 minutes (#4). Let cool for 5 minutes then serve. 

These make very nice bite-sized appetizers. They taste very savory and satisfying. This was a great variation on the theme of spaghetti and meatballs.